Shudder With Love
by C.T Macabre
Summary: Logan is the kid who sits at the back of the class, the one who everyone ignores, the one with the bad home life and the scars on his arms. Carlos is the popular guy with a constant smile. So what happens when two worlds collide? Carlos vows to himself he'll help Logan but soon begins to develop feelings for the boy, will Logan get a happy ending he dreamt he'd never have? Cargan!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! First ever story, so please tell me if its worth continuing? I hope everyone enjoys :D  
I apologize in advance for any grammatical/spelling mistakes, my editing isn't that great. **

* * *

**Chapter One**

Logan sat silently at the back of the room, watching intently as the teacher, Mrs Martin, scrawled a series of three stage algebraic equations on the blackboard. As she explained to the class how to solve them Logan took fast notes, the only one of his classmates really paying attention. Logan scribbled down a few more examples of his own as Mrs Martin moved on; even though he already knew how to solve three stage algebraic equations with ease.

The only reason Logan excelled so much in maths was because it was one of the only subjects he could get lost in, a subject in which he could forget about the ever growing feeling of isolation that encircled him, banish the images of those ugly, white scars that littered his arms and forget about his parents that hated him so much, thoughts of the friends he didn't have pushed to the back of his mind. Math gave him solace; it gave Logan peace.

Logan looked up from his notebook when the scratch of Mrs Martin's chalk against the surface of the blackboard ceased, her hands now placed on her narrow hips.

"Carlos Garcia, how nice of you to join us."

Logan's head swivelled to face the door, as did the rest of the people occupying the classroom. The person in question stood in the doorway with a sheepish grin on his face, scratching at his neck self-consciously.

"Sorry Mrs Martin, I got kept back in media."

"For twenty minutes?" The older woman asked, arching a thin eyebrow.

Carlos simply nodded, holding his books to his chest. Mrs Martin sighed, gesturing to an empty seat, "Just go take a seat Carlos, I'll speak with you after class."

Carlos nodded, ducking his head as he took a seat near the front of the class as Mrs Martin resumed with her equations. Logan tried to concentrate on what Mrs Martin was doing but found he couldn't, eyes straying to the Latino who was completely oblivious of him. Logan's heart fluttered at the thought of the boy's smile and how dimples appeared on his caramel skin each time he flashed his pearly white teeth; soon enough Logan had completely lost track of Mrs Martin's teaching. Ever since he could remember Logan had held feelings for the dark haired boy, from the day he'd enrolled in the school during his first year of high school. Those feelings had grown with each passing day since he'd first laid eyes on Carlos and that had been years ago. Logan knew it was pathetic to have such strong feelings for someone he'd never spoken to but it was something that was out of control and something he'd never told anyone; not that he had anyone to tell.

Logan had never made any friends, from the first day he arrived at Rocque High Logan had been ignored, like he was some kind of ghost everyone couldn't see; sometimes teachers even marked him absent because they don't notice his presence in a classroom. Logan sighed as he continued to stare at the Latino's back, completely lost in his musings. Logan wished for nothing more than to speak with the boy, but he knew that would never happen; Carlos sat on the other end of the social ladder; he was a friend to everyone; he spoke to everyone; except Logan.

A shrill ring jolted Logan from his sullen reverie; he jumped to his feet, being swept up into the sea of teenage bodies.

As Logan exited the room he took a sharp right, heading straight for his locker, math had been his last class and he had no reason to hang around. Glancing down Logan saw that a lace of one of his shoes was undone; sighing he paused and bent down to tie it up. Just as he straightened himself he heard a shout as someone ran into his back. Logan stumbled and his books fell to the floor. Logan closed his eyes, shaking his head. He turned, curious to see who the culprit was. The breath in his throat caught when he came face to face with Carlos Garcia who stood before him awkwardly, eyes wide.

"I'm so sorry!' he exclaimed, bending down to pick up the spilt books. Logan tried to say something in reply but he found he couldn't speak, his tongue having turned to a dead weight, heart pounding profusely. He bent down to aid Carlos, opting to stay silent.

Carlos went to hand over some books, still mumbling apologies when he froze, staring downwards. Logan followed he line of sight, stomach dropping when he caught sight of what Carlos had seen. As Logan had bent down to retrieve a book the sleeve of his cardigan had ridden up his arm, revealing two thin scars running parallel along his arm, one white and faded, the other an angry red, the skin around it puckered. Logan looked up at Carlos, at loss as what to say. Carlos stared right back, mouth hanging open.

Abruptly Logan stood up, stammering a weak apology, "I-I'm s-s-sorry…" he rushed away, nearing a corner.

"No wait, Logan stop!"

At the sound of his name Logan paused and turned to meet Carlos' surprised eyes with his tear-filled ones; without wasting another moment he disappeared around the corner. With a sigh Carlos collected up the books Logan had left behind; a frown plastered on his features.

* * *

"What?!" James exclaimed, jumping up from the plush velvet sofa.

"You heard me," replied Carlos, seated on the floor by the couch, staring at his hands. The two were in James' room, the taller, brunette boy having invited Carlos over that afternoon.

"Are you sure?" James questioned, pulling at his tight fitting shirt, "were they actually scars?"

"Yes I'm sure" deadpanned Carlos, looking up at James, "I need to do something James, I can't just ignore it; he needs help and he obviously isn't getting any."

James collapsed on his queen-sized bed, letting out a large breath, "Carlos how are you going to do that? You don't know the kid, no one does. He's just the guy that no one pays attention to, and obviously for good reason! He's messed up, let someone else deal with it."

Carlos jumped to his feet, face turning beet red; "how can you say that James!? I can't just stand back and pretend I didn't see anything; what if he went and did something stupid? I couldn't live with myself if I knew I could've done something to help him James, I just couldn't."

"What, are you saying, he's gonna go top himself?" James asked, rather bluntly.

"That's not funny James, I'm serious, I just want to help him is all."

"Sometimes I wish you weren't like this," James said with a sigh, "wished that you didn't care so much; this Logan kid obviously has a lot of baggage and I just think you should let him deal with the burden himself."

Carlos glared at James, "I care because I understand." Images of his mother flashed before his eyes, leaving him dazed.

James expression softened as he realised what Carlos was referring to. "No Carlos, I didn't mean it like that, its good that you want to help but how do you know Logan will even let you in, he's obviously never let anyone else in."

"James I don't think anybody ever tried to be friends with Logan."

James threw his arms up in evident defeat, "fine Carlos, you win, help Logan if you really think it'll work, but I'm warning you, it could get messy."

Carlos gave his friend a smile, "don't worry James, I'll be careful." James just rolled his eyes, smiling back at his friend.

* * *

Logan pushed open the door to his home, silence meeting his ears. He entered the immaculately clean hall, wiping away the last of the tears that had left shining trails down his face. The place was completely free of dust, everything placed in perfect order. He passed into the clinically white kitchen, noticing his parents sitting at the breakfast table. When he entered the room they cut their conversation short, both turning to silently stare at him.

"Hi" Logan muttered, giving his parents a small wave. His father simply returned the gesture with a glare, his mother's mouth turning down in a light frown.

"Go upstairs please Logan," his mother said to him in a neutral tone, "your father and I are speaking privately."

When Logan made no move to leave his father spoke up, venom lacing his words, "you heard the woman, you fag, get your good for nothing arse upstairs before I need to give you another bruise."

Logan recoiled at the words and disappeared back into the hall, climbing slowly up the stairs. He knew he should be used to it by now but every time his father spoke to him like that the words pierced his skin like a knife; they always hurt. Since the day he'd come out to his parent they had become cold towards him and after about a week his father had began to get abusive, his mother doing nothing to stop it, almost like she thought Logan deserved it, which were probably her thoughts exactly.

Entering his small and boxy bedroom Logan closed the door quietly behind him, collapsing on the bed in a heap. He was exhausted, his mind playing over the events that happened earlier that day. Logan didn't know what Carlos would do now that he knew; he couldn't bear to think, his worst fear being that he would arrive ar school tomorrow and everyone knew. Pulling his sleeves back Logan stared at the scars, both old and new, ashamed of their presence, but he knew that without them, he mightn't even be here right now.

Those thoughts about digging the razor that little bit deeper into his skin were always plaguing the edges of his mind, thoughts about maybe just jumping out into the oncoming traffic everyday he walked to school, or the thoughts about jumping from the high-rises that stood sentinel in the distance. The cuts were the only thing that let Logan cope with it all. Suddenly Logan sat up, feeling a vibration in his pocket. Pulling at his phone he opened the message he'd just received, something that was a rare occurrence for him. Logan's stomach dropped for a second time that afternoon as he stared at the message on the screen of his phone.

_Carlos isn't the only one who saw your scars today._

* * *

**So what does everyone think? I'd love to know :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone :D  
Thank you all so much for the reviews and favourites, I really wasn't expecting much with this story but apparently people are interested.  
****Oh, and I seem to have this paranoia thing about editing, so again I apologise for mistakes. **  
So here's the second chapter, I hope you all enjoy :)  
Also just to clear something up, I may have implied that Carlos' mother had died or something in the first chapter, well thats not the case, something terrible did happen to her but that'll come up in a later chapter.  


* * *

**Chapter Two**

"Mum?"

Sylvia Garcia turned to look at her son from her place at the stove, chequered red and white apron hanging loosely from around her neck, "yes, Carlos?"

Carlos shifted in his seat, clearing his throat. He was completely unsure about how to ask the question.  
"Well I was just wondering if maybe you could give me some advice?" The boy sounded conflicted, staring down at his hands.

With a smile Carlos' mother turned the stove off, coming to take a seat next to her son, "advice for what?" she asked.

"Its just that I was wondering if you knew how to go about trying to help someone with a problem, a really big and personal problem if you've never spoken to them before?"

Sylvia quirked an eyebrow at the queer sounding inquiry, but decided not to question why her son was asking it.

"Well Carlos" she began, taking his hands in her own, "its an odd question but it sounds like to me that you need to get to know this person better if you want to help them with something personal, as they won't just let a stranger in. I think the best way to approach it would be to get into this person's life, befriend them, let them trust you before you even try to broach whatever it is that's the problem. Does that help?"

Carlos grinned and nodded enthusiastically, squeezing his mother's hands, "That's mum, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Neither do I" Sylvia answered, shaking her head, "now go get a plate, the pancakes are getting cold."

* * *

Class wasn't due to start in another twenty minutes and before Carlos realised what he was doing he found himself in the quietest corner of the library, a notepad open before him, the words 'HELP LOGAN INPROVE HIS LIFE' scrawled across the top of the page. With a blush he quickly crossed out and rewrote the word 'improve' realising he'd spelt it wrong.

Carlos tapped the pen furiously against the side of his head, desperate for his brain to think up some brilliantly ingenious plan. He sat like that for a good five minutes, his brain refusing to comply, thoughts straying back to how wonderful Logan's eyes were…  
Carlos shook his head, trying to push those thoughts back.

"Carlos?" Carlos' head shot up, heaving a sigh of relief when he saw Camille standing before him, eyes questioning.

"Carlos what are you doing here?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

"What do you mean?" Carlos asked, gnawing on the end of his pen lid.

"Carlos in all the years I've known you I've never once seen you enter the library. Did you even know we had a library?"

Carlos shot her a look, "of course I knew we had a library," he said defensively, "I just needed to be somewhere quite."

"What are you doing that could possibly require so much of your attention?" she asked, taking a seat across from him. Carlos poked out his tongue at her, causing her to glare playfully at him.

"Well if you must know" he began, trying his best to sound dignified, "I'm making a plan."

"Oh a plan!" Camille's eyes lit up at the word, the latent acting skill she reserved for drama club suddenly bursting into life. "I like plans."

"I'm making a plan to help someone I don't know. I'm stuck for ideas, do you have any?"

Camille smiled sweetly. "Why dear Carlos, you don't even have to ask, I always have ideas. You simply need to find a reason to hang out with said person, so you can help them with whatever the problem is; easy."

Carlos threw his hands up in the air, grinning maniacally. "Camille, you're amazing!"

"I know she replied," leaning back in her chair with a smug smile.

Carlos brought pen to paper, only one idea coming to mind.

_Fail Math._

Flashing another grin to Camille, Carlos collected up his notebook and sped away, thankful, for the first time in his life he had a math test today. Before he could get too far Camille stated, "it's Logan Mitchell isn't it?"

Carlos froze. "What?" Despite his best efforts, a blush began to creep up Carlos' neck.

"The person you want to help out, its Logan Mitchell isn't it?"

"How could you possibly know that?" asked Carlos, dumbfounded, the blush deepening; he couldn't help it, the brunette's name bringing butterflies to his stomach.

"I'm in the drama club dear Carlos, I always know, its my job to know" she said with a wink.

* * *

For the Mitchell household breakfast was quite. Mr Mitchell sat at the table, nose buried deep in a newspaper, a steaming cup of coffee, flat white double shot sitting before him. Logan's mother leant against the kitchen counter, sipping on a long glass of spirulina juice, which she claimed had a multitude of benefits; Logan didn't touch the exotic looking concoction, preferring to stick with the carton of mundane orange juice that sat in the fridge.

The boy in question strode into the kitchen, keeping his eyes downcast, throwing a slice of bread into the toaster and pulling the orange juice from the fridge, grabbing a glass from a cupboard above his head Logan went to pour the juice, watching as the deep orange liquid flooded into the glass. Filling it to the brim Logan placed the carton back in the fridge, left to wait for his bread to toast.

The atmosphere quickly grew tense with each passing moment Logan occupied the space with his parents; his mother flicking him occasional glances, his father too engrossed in his newspaper to spare a look at either of them. After several painstaking moments the toast finally popped, signalling that it was finished cooking. Collecting it from the toaster Logan went to take a bite, completely forgetting about the glass of vibrantly coloured liquid by his elbow, mind focused on the events of the previous day, Carlos' look of horrified surprise and the ominous words of the text message imprinted into his mind.

It was already to late.  
Logan watched in mute horror as the glass rushed to meet the ceramic floor, its contents arching out into the open air.

Within moments it was all over.

With a deafening crunch the glass shattered on the floor, shards flying and ricocheting in every direction, the juice pooling upon the tiles. His mother simply glanced at the mess on the floor, not so much as a stern word or a scolding. She relied on his father for that. Dread filled Logan as he heard chair legs scraping against the floor; he took several steps back, putting as much distance between himself and his father as possible.

"What's this?" his father seethed, standing in front of the mess Logan had caused. Logan just shook his head, not trusting his voice enough to speak.

"You answer me when I ask you a question!"

"I-I just, i-i-it was just an accident…"

Just as Logan went to make his escape his father had materialised before him, grabbing the boy by the scruff of his shirt. Before Logan could protest his father's free hand made a sharp crack across his cheek.

_Crack._

Tears began to collect in the corners of Logan's eyes, dazed by the surge of pain that had accompanied the slap. Without another word Logan's father dropped Logan, taking a seat at the table and picking up his newspaper again, as if nothing ever happened. Holding his hand against the burning pain that had blossomed in his cheek, Logan looked between his parents, his mother completely indifferent, his father acting like he hadn't even left his seat. A single tear broke free, leaving a glistening trail as it ran its way down Logan's cheek. He backed up, rushed out of the kitchen, grabbed his bag from the bottom of the stairwell and barrelled out the front door, into the cool, morning air.

Logan dwelled on the events of the morning as he walked to school, rubbing his cheek. The sharp stinging sensation had faded but the emotional pain was still raw. Logan knew he should be used to it, it wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last. The boy sighed as he walked along and stared up into the clear periwinkle blue sky, the sun's vibrant rays beating down against the houses, roads and sidewalks. Cars rushed past him as he trudged along and for a spilt moment a single thought managed to gnaw its way into the forefront of his mind.

_I wonder if anyone would miss me if I threw myself in front of one of those cars._

Although it only lasted a moment Logan had to stop walking, taking in deep breathes. He'd had the thoughts before, and they did always lurk in the darker recesses of his mind but when they pushed their way to the front, to become the only thing he could think about, even if it was only momentary; it scared him. It shook him down to the bone. It scared him because for those spilt seconds his thoughts were completely serious. It shook him down to the bone, because Logan knew, that if his frame of mind was right; he wouldn't think twice about doing it.

Logan Mitchell didn't have much, if anything to live for, and for that he pitied himself.

* * *

Carlos wouldn't say he stole it, but he knew he wouldn't be able to give it back. He justified that the art department wouldn't miss a piece of A3 paper anyway, its not like they ever did inventories; well he hoped they didn't…

"Okay, let's get down to business." Stated Camille, pulling a black marker out of her pencil case. Camille had dragged Carlos into an empty classroom; they still had ten minutes to spare.

"You said you had a maths test today, correct?" Camille asked, putting on her best business-like tone. Carlos nodded furiously, smiling all the while.

"Wait, before we go any further I'd just like to ask, how'd you get into Logan Mitchell's math class anyway? Isn't that the most advanced class?"

Carlos simply shrugged. He'd had no idea how he'd got in either; he'd only managed to pass this year because, Jordan Sanders, the boy that sat next to him in class, had ridiculously large handwriting.

Camille shook her head at him, bending door to write 'test' in large letters in the middle of the sheet.

"Right, well, you suggested that you fail this test right?"

"Right" Carlos nodded in confirmation.

"Okay, well how do you know that the teacher will demand you receive tutoring?" Camille asked, pointing out the obvious flaw in the plan.

"Well I figure she will because finals are coming up pretty soon and…" Carlos trailed off, not exactly sure what else to say, but apparently that was enough for the dark haired girl.

"Carlos for all your shortcomings sometimes you can be incredibly smart."

Carlos smiled widely, but it quickly faltered, "wait, shortcomings?"

Camille waved it off, "not important, what is important is that we finalise this plan."

Carlos nodded, face turning serious again, "okay well after I fail the test, Mrs Martin will demand I get last minute tutoring because of finals and because Logan is the smartest I'll suggest for him to tutor me and then, next thing you know, I'll have a reason to hang out with Logan!"

Camille nodded in approval, drawing out a flowchart, "this is good, I like this" she said, taking a step back from her work.

Carlos tilted his head to the side, trying to make sense of the scrawled words and arrows, "was the flowchart really necessary?"

"No" answered Camille with a smile, "but I like the dramatic effect that it provides."

Carlos grinned; he couldn't help but agree.

* * *

**So what does everyone think? Was it any good?  
Anyways, if anyone would like to provide more advice I'd be grateful, I'd like to know what's working and what isn't.  
I hope to have the next chapter up by Monday, maybe a little earlier, I'll see how I go for time. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well I stuck to my promise, got it up on Monday :)  
As everyone should already know, I'm super angsty about my grammatical ability, so again, I apologise for mistakes.  
I hope everyone likes it, and if you don't then I honestly don't know why you're still reading after two chapters...  
Anyways, enjoy :D **

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Logan shouldered his way in through the school's main doors, pausing for a moment to watch as groups of students milled around the hall, either grouped by lockers or wandering in chattering gaggles. His eyes flickered between groups as he headed towards his locker, wondering what it'd be like to be a part of one of them; the brunette smiled bitterly to himself. He guessed he'd never know.

"Hey, Logan!"

Logan froze at the sound of the all too familiar voice, a voice that had only ever spoken his name once before, a voice he wasn't ready to face again. He could see Carlos in the distance, mingling among a large group of people Logan didn't know the names of.

All watched in open-mouthed surprise as Carlos drifted from their ranks and headed towards the pale skinned boy, a couple of textbooks clutched to the Latino's chest. Logan's mind clouded over as the Carlos drew nearer, stopped once or twice by a friend, only to have Carlos brush them off, eyes focused on Logan all the while. Logan tried desperately to compose himself mentally, but Carlos was upon him before he could set his thoughts straight.

"Hey, Logan" he repeated, more quiet this time, a smile that set Logan's heart knocking against his ribcage gracing his chiselled face.

"H-hi" Logan managed to splutter out, hands quaking. He desperately hoped Carlos wouldn't notice.

If he did, the shorter boy didn't mention it, "I just wanted to give you these." He held out the textbooks he'd been carrying, although to Logan it looked more like guarding. "You left them yesterday."

"T-thanks" Logan stuttered as he took the books from the Latino's hands. As Logan took them from Carlos' grasp, the boys' hands brushed, heat racing up Logan's face; Carlos dropping his head, trying to hide the smile that had grown even wider.

"Well I-I guess I'll s-see you around" muttered Logan, moving to step around Carlos.

Carlos' head shot up, reaching out to put a hand on Logan's shoulder, Logan flinched slightly, but the other boy didn't seem to notice.

"Wait, Logan I just wanted to ask, are you okay?"

Logan stared at Carlos in silence, to distracted by the warmth of the hand on his shoulder to form a coherent answer.

The Latino stared into Logan's eyes, waiting for an answer.

"I-I…" Logan didn't know what to say.

Before Carlos could object, Logan darted away, quickly lost in the crowd of teens that had begun to fill the halls, the bell signalling for class having rung.  
Carlos stood facing the empty space Logan had occupied only moments ago; Logan's failure to answer the question had only deepened Carlos' concern.

He couldn't wait for the maths test to come quick enough.

* * *

Logan hurried away from Carlos, not daring to look back. He didn't know what had come over him; he just found he couldn't lie to the Latino, when he went to say the words they only froze in his throat, refusing to leave his mouth. As Logan reached his locker he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, his muscles freezing up at the feel of it. No one ever texted him, sometimes Logan asked himself why he even had a phone and only one possible suspect rose to mind.

_Carlos isn't the only one who saw your scars._

The brunette opened his locker and dumped his books and bag inside, closing it with a slam and fishing his phone from his jean pocket, palms slick with sweat. Logan hadn't saved the number but each digit had imprinted itself on the inside of his eyelids, he couldn't close his eyes without seeing it. Logan was right; it was from the same person.

_If you want to keep those scars to yourself then I suggest that you meet me in the gymnasium after school, I'd like to have a little chat._

Logan's mouth went dry and his stomach wrung itself in tight knots. He could feel himself falling apart. Logan stumbled into the nearby bathroom, gripping the edge of one of the basins so hard his knuckles turned a deathly white. He looked up at his reflection, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Logan, please get a grip on yourself; everything is going to be okay."

The lie was frail, and Logan couldn't get himself to believe it for a moment. His home life was already broken and shattered and now the same thing was happening to him at school. It wasn't enough that he had no friends, that everyone pretended he didn't exist. There had to be someone who seemed to have some personal vendetta against him.

Logan drew in heavy, laboured breaths, he'd scrape by; he always managed to. He hadn't the faintest idea of what to do, the idea of meeting this mystery person alone was frightening, Logan couldn't help but feel that the messages had a threatening air about them; this person seemed to what something from him. He rested his forehead against the cool of the mirror's glass, desperate for the ground to open its primal jaws and swallow him whole, to just disappear; its not like anyone would miss him. Logan quickly brushed at his eyes and readjusted his plaid shirt, wishing, although somewhat regretfully, that Carlos had never run into him.

* * *

Carlos was positively giddy with excitement, something he'd never thought he'd feel as he walked into math class.

Everyone else had already taken his or her seats, Carlos spying Logan near the back, staring off into space. The Latino found himself briefly wishing he sat behind Logan, so he had something to keep himself occupied during class. Carlos couldn't help but frown to himself; this was about helping Logan, nothing else. He just wanted to befriend the brunette, help him get through what ever he was going through right? Doubt was beginning to niggle on the outskirts of Carlos' mind, something told him his feelings were too strong for just simple friendship. He pushed those thoughts away as he took a seat, locking away the confusion that surrounded them, all he needed to do was concentrate on failing. The Latino smiled to himself, yes that's what he needed to do, concentrate on failing. The whimsical thought allowed for a quiet chuckle to leave Carlos' lips, he was going to have fun with this.

Mrs Martin cleared her throat, beginning to distribute the test papers, "you all should know the drill by now, no speaking and no borrowing other people's materials. You have seventy minutes, you may begin."

Carlos eagerly grabbed a pen and jotted down his name where it was asked; he realised with an even wider smile that that was probably the only thing he was going to get right on this test. The first page of the test was filled with linear equations, Carlos attacked the blank spaces with random numbers and figures, even inserting a few letters he doubted were appropriate. The next lot of questions were in relation to some kind of algebra Carlos had never seen before, although he knew he'd just not been listening when Mrs Martin had given a lesson on it.

Twenty minutes later Carlos let out a contented sigh and dropped his pen on the desk, watching as it rolled away towards the edge before he snatched it again. Carlos flicked through the test paper just to make sure all the answers looked wrong enough, he hoped this would work. He pulled at the sleeves of his sweater and leant back on his chair, staring up at the clock, watching as the second hand made its endless journey around the clock's face.

Now all he had to do was wait.

* * *

"You did what?" James asked, his mouth dropping open in surprise.

"Yep, I failed the maths test on purpose." Answered Carlos, smiling proudly.

"But for good reason" interjected Camille, who had a brick of a book open before her, flicking through the pages with disinterest. The three were in history, working on the group assignment Mr Billings had given them.

"And what reason would be good enough to go and purposely fail a test?" James stared at the two of them, tapping his fingers against the desk.

"Its all part of our brilliantly thought out plan" grinned Camille, "so Carlos can get closer to Logan."

James turned to glare at the stocky Latino, who seemed to wither under his taller friend's gaze.

"Carlos are you really going as far as to fail a test just to 'help' someone you don't know?"

Carlos nodded, a smile creeping back onto his face.

Camille flipped her hair over her shoulder, "well I think its great that Carlos is so determined, no matter what the reason."

James quirked an eyebrow at the statement, turning to look a Carlos, "she doesn't know about the stripes does she?" he asked.

Carlos glared at him, "hey that was uncalled for, and know, she doesn't."

"The stripes?" Camille looked between the two of them, confusion lacing her features.

"He means the reason I'm trying to help Logan," sighed Carlos, staring down at his blank brainstorming page.

"Oh, stripes…" Camille said quietly, a dark realisation dawning upon her, "wow Carlos, its good that you're trying to help."

"No its not!" replied James, cutting off Carlos before he had the chance to speak, "its not good at all."

"James why are you so opposed to this?" asked Carlos, hands curling into fists.

"Because like I told you Carlos, it'll only get messy, you really want to shoulder that big cloud of angst he carries around with him?"

"If I was in that situation I'd want someone to help" provided Camille, shutting the book that lay before her.

"Yeah," said Carlos, thankful for the support, "I bet he wants help James, he just doesn't have anyone to turn to, I don't' see what's so bad about being there for him."

James scowled at him. "Well if you care that much why don't you just go and sit with him then, be forward."

"That's a good idea…" said Camille, a smile tugging at her lips, plan formulating within her scheming mind.

"Carlos you can go sit with him at lunch today, seeing as he sits alone everyday, and James you can go with him, just so its more causal." She was grinning when she finished speaking.

"But-" James began, weakly searching for a retort.

"Don't worry James, I'll tell Kendall and Lucy and the others that you and Carlos have assignments or something, they'll understand." Camille left no room for argument, James had no choice.

"But-" James was still groping for something to say.

"Great idea Camille" smiled Carlos widely, putting an arm around James' shoulders, "sounds like a plan."

James just shook his head in defeat, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut.

* * *

Logan sat at the empty bench in the cafeteria quietly, beginning his daily lunchtime ritual. With him he carried an apple, red skin gleaming under the harsh fluorescent light and a book, titled, _Murder on the Orient Express, _written by Agatha Christie. Setting them both down on the table he glanced around, watching as people rushed to and fro, taking seats at crowded benches and walking by in small groups, droning on loudly about one teenage antic or another. Logan sighed, picking up his book and opening to where he left off, getting lost in the world of Hercule Poirot.

_"Not such a famous alibi," said Poirot. "The hands of the watch pointed to 1.15—the exact time when the intruder actually left the scene of the crime." _

_"True," said M. Bouc, a little confused. "What then does the watch convey to you?" _

_"If the hands were altered—I say if—then the time at which they were set must have a significance. The natural reaction would be to suspect anyone who had a reliable alibi for the time indicated—in this case, 1.15." _

_"Yes, yes," said the doctor. "That reasoning is good."…_

A sharp cough pulled Logan out of the book; he looked up from the well-worn and crinkled pages and stifled a gasp of surprise, his stomach tying itself up again. He wondered if he'd be able to make an escape.

"Hey Logan" said Carlos with a wave and smile, plodding himself down opposite the brunette, James joined him; Logan couldn't help but notice it was done somewhat grudgingly.

He guessed escape was out of the question then.

"So what are you reading?" asked Carlos, trying to find some thread of conversation to pull. Logan simply held up the cover of the book, watching as Carlos silently formed he word with his lips, Logan hid the smile that crept up his face behind the novel, wondering how those lips might taste against his own.

"I've never heard of it before" said Carlos, "is it knew?"

Logan shook his head silently, his smile growing wider.

"Of course it isn't knew you idiot" said James, rolling his eyes, "its written by Agatha Christie, she died ages ago."

"Well I'm sorry" replied the Latino, turning to face the taller boy, "that I don't keep tabs on all the dead people!"

"She's a famous author, everyone knows who she is!"

"Your face is a famous author," muttered Carlos, poking out his tongue.

"I didn't know you read," said Logan, somewhat timidly, directing the question at James. The two turned back to face him, James plastering on a smile that showed off his no doubt surgically whitened teeth.

"Well you've learnt something today haven't you?"

"Don't belittle him James" said Carlos, punching his shoulder.

"Belittle?" James said, raising an eyebrow.

Carlos began to look uncertain of himself, "did I use that in the wrong way?" he asked. James let out a laugh; Logan couldn't help but laugh a little himself. For the first time in a long while Logan was actually enjoying the company of other people.

"Carlos did you look that word up before we came to lunch or something? What are you trying to do, impress Logan?"

Carlos didn't reply, only laughed awkwardly and looked down, Logan noticing a red tinge crawl up his neck.  
Logan felt that same heat crawl its way up his own neck, the idea of Carlos going out of his way to impress him making Logan feel giddy.

"Carlos don't try and be smart" said James, clapping his hand on the Latino's shoulder, "it doesn't work for you."

* * *

**Yay, things are progressing, sort of...  
****I'm thinking I'll get chapter four up on Sunday, so until then review, favourite, follow, it all makes my day better and I'll be more inclined to write ;) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay, chapter four!  
I'm not sure how I feel about this one, I'm not really sure if I like it at all... But it had to be written, everything in this chapter is important. There is a massive lack and Carlos/Logan interaction and for that I'm deeply sorry... But fluff shall be coming soon! So much you'll probably die. In chapter six, seven, eight, maybe nine, you'll be hit with a massive wall of fluff! Oh, and this week my school timetable is being suspended so that means no classes! So I should have heaps of time to write and I hope to have chapter five, six and seven up by the end of this week, yay, progress!  
I'd also like to thank everyone who've been reviewing and following, I love you all! (In that non-physical-I-know-where-you-live kind-of-way)  
And a really big thank you to wittychocolate who gives me wonderfully insightful reviews and who is so helpful, he's absolutely awesome and everyone should go check out his own story, Stuck, which I'm sure you'll all love, I myself am obsessed with it ;) **

* * *

**Chapter Four**

The reverberating sound of the bell rang through Logan's ears; the bell that signalled the end of the day; the bell that signalled; to Logan, it was time to face the mysterious and threatening perpetrator to have their 'little chat.' The brunette's legs were shaky as he headed out of his last period class, thoughts racing through his mind. What if they wanted to hurt him? What if this was some kind of big joke? What if it was Carlos? The very idea almost brought tears to his eyes; Logan didn't think he'd be able to take it, Carlos meant too much to him.

After shoving his books in his locker and waiting until the sea of students had thinned out Logan headed through the virtually empty halls towards the gymnasium, wishing that today wasn't Thursday, the only day that the gymnasium wasn't used for some form of after school sports practice. The forbidding double doors appeared in front of Logan all too quickly for his liking, daring him to go inside. He hesitated a moment, looking around the halls, devoid of any person. Taking a deep, steady breath the brunette opened the doors, listening with anticipation to the groan of the hinges.

Logan's footsteps echoed quietly as he stepped inside the empty gym; he could hear the whine of the fluorescent lights above him in the hush.

"Glad to see you could make it."

Logan turned quickly to the source of the voice, near the equipment storage shed. His mouth fell open in shock when he met the cold eyes of the culprit. He curled his lips in a thin and mocking smile.

"Weren't expecting me were you?" he asked, the mocking smile becoming taunting.

"No" said Logan, desperately trying to keep his quaking voice steady, "no, I wasn't expecting Kendall Knight"

Kendall sauntered over to where Logan stood rooted to the ground, "but…" Logan said, trying to make sense of it all.

"What? I'm supposed to be one of the nice guys?" Asked Kendall, raising his eyebrows in question, "that because I'm friends with sweet Carlos I'm supposed to be like him, that I should care about you?" His voice dripped with a provoking sarcasm.

"Well I don't," he continued, stopping a few steps before Logan. "I don't care about you Logan, but you could prove useful to me."

"W-what?" Logan asked, backing away cautiously.

"You heard me," said Kendall, closing the distance Logan made between them with a few sure strides. "You could be useful to me. I plan to become a famous hockey player, but I don't think that'll work out very well if I don't graduate from school, so you're going to be doing all my assignments for the rest of the year, so I can concentrate on finals and hockey."

He smiled down at Logan, almost innocently. Logan backed up a couple more steps, adamant to get out of the gym fast.

"And what i-if I don't?" Stuttered Logan, trying to hold his ground.

"I think you know the answer to that one Loges!" Kendall exclaimed, a chuckle escaping his lips, "I'll tell everyone about those little scars up and down your arms and about those thoughts you have about sweet, innocent Carlos."

"W-what?" asked Logan, shocked. "What do you mean, thoughts?"

"You know what I mean," answered Kendall taking a predatory step forward, "about your feelings. Don't look so shocked, its not hard to tell, I guess no one else has picked up on it because no one notices you. Well if you don't do what I want then things will change fast. You won't just be ignored, you'll probably be hated as well." He finished his words with a large grin, one that made Logan feel queasy.

"So I'll let you have a little think about that," Kendall continued, heading lithely towards the exit. "If you don't show up in the library on Monday morning then I'll let your secrets slip." He gave another smile and a quick, taunting wave before disappearing out the door.

The silence quickly became oppressive and Logan fell to the ground, cradling his knees to his chest.

He had no idea what he was going to do.

But more to the point was what could he do?

* * *

"Hey everyone, sorry I'm late!"

"Kendall where've you been? Your twenty minutes late!" Camille asked, hands on hips.

"Yeah, we were really missing you" deadpanned James, glancing up from a mirror he'd been staring into, running a comb through his hair.

"Just got held up is all" smiled Kendall, joining Lucy and Carlos on the plush couch James had pushed up against one of his beige and lilac bedroom walls.

"What've you guys been doing the entire time? Just sitting around? You should've just gone on ahead, I could have met you at the movies."

"Well we were going to but little miss Taylor insisted on waiting for you." James rolled his eyes and put the mirror down, gesturing to a flustered Jo. "I guess she just couldn't bear the thought of not having you by her side in the dark."

"Shut up James!" Jo growled, ditching a pillow at his head.

James ducked and smiled amiably, "now Jo, don't be like that."

Jo grumbled under her breath, refusing to meet anybody's eyes.

"Well…" trailed Kendall, clearing his throat; "we better get going, maybe we can catch the later screening."

Kendall was met with a chorus of agreements and as everyone began to filter out of the room Kendall caught Carlos' eyes. The Latino seemed to be distracted and he knew what his mind was plagued by. Kendall shook his head and smiled to himself, the hockey player could only wonder why the boy cared to even given someone like Logan Mitchell the time of the day; but he knew that if Logan didn't abide by his rules then he'd lose the one person that may have cared.

Kendall chuckled at the thought; Logan Mitchell was worthless.

* * *

The afternoon had all been too much. It'd brought Logan over that line, so close to the edge; he hadn't remembered when he'd picked up the razor blade; or how many times he'd dragged it across his skin; but in the teary and searing aftermath Logan sat in pain-induced clarity, trails of red blossoming along his arms; he resolved to himself that he was stronger, that he'd push through, that everything would be okay.

Only a week earlier, one measly week earlier the brunette had wondered if his life could get any worse, if something could drag him further into the darkness; those thoughts had been tempting fate and he was sorry for it.

As the sun began to sink below the horizon Logan cleaned himself up, yanking down his shirt sleeves, frustrated at himself for being so pitifully weak. Just as he was about to make a start on his homework a soft knock sounded at the door. Logan tensed; his parents never came to see him.

"Come in" said Logan quietly, completely unsure of the situation.

With a creak the door opened and his father stepped into the room; Logan bit back a whimper.

"Logan." He said, inclining his head forwards in greeting.

"Hello" answered Logan, the single word laced with uncertain fear. His father stood by the open door, staring coldly at his son.

"Dinner is down on the table, I suggest you get down there, your mother and I don't want to be kept waiting any longer."

Logan mentally slapped himself; he'd completely forgot about dinner. Dinner that the Mitchell family held at the exact same time every night, dinner, that for some reason Mrs Mitchell insisted on all family members attending before anyone ate.

Logan was surprised his father hadn't hit him yet.

The brunette sat, drowning in the apprehensive silence, watching as his parents ate their meals, seemingly unaware of the atmosphere that hung around the three of them.

"What did you do at school today Logan?" His mother asked, watching her son with expectant eyes. The question was asked every night, so obediently Logan answered in the expected manner, elaborating on his day. He knew his parents probably didn't care, but it had become some kind of traditional formality that they all must abide by.

"Just a normal Thursday," Logan began tentatively, swirling his food around with the pristinely polished fork held in his hand. "I had a maths test, we're doing a book review in English and Mr Petersen mentioned an assignment he'll be giving us tomorrow in media."

Logan's mother nodded absently in reply, his father gave no clue as to whether he'd even been listening.

"And what about your friends?" she questioned, stabbing a slice of cucumber with her fork, "how are they?"

"Oh my friends? They're good, good…" Logan trailed off and stared down at his plate, food left mostly untouched; he found he hadn't had much of an appetite lately. For as long as he could remember he'd lied to his parents about school, he pretended that he had an abundance of friends and that he wasn't pariah.

Logan hoped with all his heart that after what happened at lunch today that maybe he wouldn't have to keep lying about friends.

The conversation reached an abrupt end, faltering back into that tense silence. Logan wondered why his mother insisted on this; maybe it was just to torment him.

"Joanna, the boy is lying, he doesn't have any friends, just take a look at him would you?"

Logan's face twisted in surprise at his father's words. This same routine conversation had been going on for years and never before had he uttered a word to contribute to it.

"Who'd want to hang around him anyway" he continued, pointing an accusing finger at Logan, "he's a nerd, he's weak, he's can't stand his ground and he's a bloody fairy!"

Mr Mitchell slammed a fist down on the table, plates, cutlery and crystal shaking precariously from the force of the blow. Logan hung his head in shame. Everything his father had said, everything he'd accused his son of was true. But Logan couldn't allow himself to sit by and take it, he hated that his father was correct, he couldn't stop himself from speaking the words and he regretted them the moment they left his mouth.

"You're a liar."

He felt his parents eyes turn to stare at him, anger and rage rolling off his father in waves.

"What did you say to me" Mr Mitchell said, his voice barely above a whisper, full of fury.

"I said," Logan repeated, louder this time, "that you're a liar." He didn't know what was wrong with him, the words were just tumbling out of his mouth, he had absolutely no control over what he was saying.

Mr Mitchell let out a low growl, Logan choosing that moment to stand up and leave the room. He heard the scrape of his father's chair as he followed.

"You get back here right now you bastard!"

Logan turned to face his father, legs shaking. He had to prove his father wrong.

"Stay away from me!" he shouted, "You're the bastard, you're worthless and a pathetic excuse for a parent, I hope you rot in hell; its where you belong."  
He finished in a whisper, turning and dashing up the stairs before his father had fully comprehended what his son had said. Reaching his room Logan slammed the door and locked it, taking in heavy, panting breaths.

He'd done something stupid. He'd never provoked his father like that and now that he had; he knew that a storm would be coming.

* * *

"Yes, of course, I'll be sure to tell him that Mrs Martin, thank you so much for calling."

Carlos entered the house just as Sylvia hung up the phone.

"Carlos is that you?" she called from the living room, "come in here please, we need to speak."

"Sure!" Carlos called, being careful to sound neutral. Before entering the room his mother occupied he forced the smile off his face; he could guess what this was going to be about.

"What's up?" The Latino asked as he took a seat next to his mother on the couch.

"Carlos I just got a call from your math teacher, Mrs Martin, she's been going through the test your class sat today and said she's concerned with how you're going. The results were very poor Carlos, your worst all year, and this close to finals?"

Carlos struggled to keep that grin off his face; his plan was working, and so much faster than he thought it would.

"I'm sorry mum, I really am, what can we do?" Carlos tried his best to sound serious, Camille would be proud.

"Well Mrs Martin suggested tutoring, she wants to speak with you tomorrow after math, can you do that?"

Carlos nodded feverishly, "of course I can, I will, I promise."

"Good" Sylvia answered with a light smile, "now you go, you're late home and you probably have homework to do, go on, to your room."

Carlos groaned but complied with his mother's wishes. As he climbed the staircase the Latino let a grin break out on his features, tomorrow he'd talk with Mrs Martin and the final pieces of his plan would fall perfectly into place. Logan Mitchell would become his tutor and then maybe he'd be able to begin helping the troubled boy.

* * *

**I don't blame you if you didn't like it but as I said it was necessary! Bear with me please, as promised above an abundance of Cargan fluff coming soon!  
Gosh, I hope the spelling and grammar is okay. I'd feel extra bad if I made any mistakes this chapter...**


	5. Chapter 5

**As promised, here is Chapter five :D  
Admittedly I rushed the editing with this one, so please don't go all grammar nazi on me.  
****Chapter six shall be up very soon and that means fluff!  
****Am I more excited than you guys are? I guess I just lonely :P  
****Anyways I hope you all enjoy and if you don't feel free to send hate mail, because I don't get any kind of mail... **

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Logan wouldn't open the door.

He couldn't open the door.

"Let me in you insolent shit!"

Logan could feel the wooden frame shake under the force of his father's blows. Silent tears fell down the young brunette's face as he leant back against the door, not daring to move, nor speak.

"I'll kill you, I swear it!" The rattling continued, more intense now. His father's screams of fury echoing throughout the house; Logan let out a shuddering breath, trying to compose himself.

He'd stop soon wouldn't he?

He'd have to give up sometime right?

The thoughts didn't give Logan any solace; he felt more alone now than he ever had. From Logan's place at the door he was staring directly at his bedroom window; it was large and paned and Logan would usually open it on those warmer summer nights. But right now he wasn't thinking about the cool air it provided on those nights; his mind was filled with only one thought.

He wondered if he'd survive the fall.

Directly below the window lay the concrete driveway but Logan didn't know if the fall would be high enough for it to be fatal, he might only break a few bones. Abruptly he was pulled out of his thoughts by the sudden absence of his father's jolting pummels against the door.

He'd stopped.

He'd given up.

Carefully and silently Logan picked himself up from the floor, legs shaking uncontrollably as he headed over towards the window. Tears continued to trace their way down the brunette's cheeks as he pulled the window open, welcoming the cool night air. Looking down to the ground below Logan thought that maybe he'd die if he went head first, his skull dashing against the paving in a stroke of crimson red.

He leant out into the night, closing his eyes against the darkness and cold, hands gripping the edges tightly. Logan wanted nothing more than to let go but something stopped him.

_Please Logan, don't do it, not now, not when things have a chance of looking up._

Opening his eyes Logan looked around, looking for the source of the small voice but he knew it'd come from him, his mind; and not for the first time, his mind was right. Logan couldn't do it, not when everything was starting to get better, despite the business with Kendall. Carlos Garcia was finally in his life and he couldn't just let that go; he had a chance now; a chance to be happy.

With numb legs Logan stumbled back from the open window, emotions hitting him in a wave that knocked him to the ground. Choked sobs rose from Logan's throat again, that ache coming back to throttle his heart. Maybe now he had a reason to live and Logan vowed to himself that he'd hold onto that with all his heart; least he'd walk into the arms of death to be loved for the first time.

"He'll save me," Logan whispered to himself in the hush of his bedroom.

"My prince will save me."

* * *

Carlos Garcia lay on his bed in the darkness, watching the luminescent glow of the numbers of his alarm clock change in a slow progression.

_Logan_

Since the Latino had flicked off the light the brunette wouldn't leave his thoughts. Carlos couldn't help but visualise the rare flash of his cute smile; the one that left Carlos in a euphoric daze, or his flawless eyes that shone with that golden hue when the sun caught them, even his slim and lithe figure that he kept hidden beneath all those cardigans and sweaters.

_Logan_

Carlos sighed to himself in frustration; he hadn't any idea what was going on. Surely it wasn't normal to feel this way about someone he'd barely spoken to? Carlos didn't have an answer to the question he'd posed to himself but he couldn't bring himself to care. Ever since that incident in the hall his feelings for Logan had been steadily growing, now to the point where it kept him awake at night.

_Logan_

Even the name sounded beautiful; Carlos couldn't find a single thing about Logan he didn't like, not the paleness of his skin or the scars that plagued his arms. He thought Logan was perfect and Carlos was still adamant to help him in any way imaginable. Tomorrow he'd talk to Mrs Martin about tutoring and he'd finally be able to get into Logan's life; to live up to the promise he'd made to himself. Carlos would pick up the broken boy and put him back on his feet, hold him when he hurt and smile when he did.

"Logan" Carlos whispered to himself in the darkness.

"I'll save you Logan, I'll be your prince."

* * *

"Carlos, would you please stay behind, I need to speak with you." Carlos strolled up to Mrs Martin's desk slowly, watching as the other students filtered out of the classroom, catching sight of Logan, head downcast. Carlos frowned; he hoped that soon he'd be able to change that. As the last straggling student left the schoolroom Mrs Martin cleared her throat, flicking a strand of stray ebony hair behind her shoulder.

"Now Carlos, last night I marked the test you sat yesterday and I was very shocked to see your results. You did very poorly and I'm concerned, finals being in only a couple of weeks. You may think this is a little drastic but I'm going to suggest tutoring for you Carlos."

Carlos struggled to quell the grin that threatened to highjack his features, heart racing in anticipation; "I understand Mrs Martin, who would you suggest to tutor me, I guess I'll need someone who' really good so I was thinking-"

"Actually Carlos" interrupted Mrs Martin, "I'll be tutoring you, twice a week."

In the space of a sentence the Latino's whole plan had fallen to shattered pieces.

"Pardon?" said Carlos, frozen with shock.

"I said I'll be tutoring you Carlos, will that be a problem?"

"No, no problem" Carlos managed hoarsely.

"Okay good, then I'll see you on Wednesday afternoon."

Carlos nodded soundlessly and shuffled out of the room, at loss for what to do. His plan had failed, he and Camille had both missed the biggest flaw; it'd been completely overlooked. Now what could he do?

* * *

Carlos joined Camille and James at their usual lunch table, feeling useless and empty. Carlos vaguely heard Camille mention something about Lucy being sick and Kendall and Jo working on some assignment together but he wasn't altogether listening.

"Are you okay?" James asked the sullen Latino, "It looks like someone killed your puppy."

"The plan failed" muttered Carlos, eyes downcast, "the plan failed."

He continued to mutter the phrase over and over again in succession, thumping his head against the table top.  
James only watched in mild amusement, eyebrows raised and arms crossed.

"What do you mean the plan failed, do you mean mission help-Logan-at-all-costs?"

Carlos raised his head to look at Camille, a frown plastered on his face.

"Since when did it have a name?"

"How could it have possibly failed?" asked Camille, horrified, "it was perfect!"

"Mrs Martin insisted on tutoring me herself" groaned Carlos, resuming the thumping of his head against the table, "someone get me a shovel, I'm going to go and dig a hole and die."

James' mouth curled up in a smirk, "I told you not to do it" he said, smugly, "just leave him be Carlos."

Carlos' head shot up to glare at James, but Camille interjected before an argument could breakout.

"So what are you going to do now?" She demanded, "we can't just give up."

"I don't know" said Carlos, shaking his head, "this was your idea to start with."

"It was?" asked Camille, confused.

"Don't worry" answered the Latino, "we just need to come up with another plan, easy enough right?"

"Why?" asked James, "please, can the two of you just leave it, if Logan wants help he can ask for it."

"Don't be like that James, we've already talked about this" said Camille, "he needs help."

"Then surely he can ask for some?" James insisted, refusing to back down.

"Who is he going to ask James, you know he doesn't have any friends," Carlos supplied, trying to sound reasonable, keeping the anger out of his voice.

"Well the two of you seem to be pretty close, why can't he just ask you." The venom in James' tone was unmistakeable and both Carlos and Camille were taken aback by his hostility.

"James…" Camille started, treading carefully.

"You know what, don't even worry about it, you two can do whatever you want, I don't care." James stood, shot both of them acidic scowls and turned sharply on his heel, quickly disappearing into the crowd that frequently massed in the halls of the cafeteria.

"He seems to just be getting more and more worked up about this" muttered Camille, staring in the direction James had stormed off in.

"Yeah" agreed Carlos, "its kinda scary…"

"Maybe one of us should talk to him then" said Camille.

Carlos shook his head, "you know James, if he'd wanted to say something more he would have, whatever the problem is he obviously isn't ready to share."

Camille nodded slowly, "I just hope he doesn't stay annoyed at us for long."

"It's hard to say with him" said Carlos, "in that sense he's kind of like a girl…"

Camille punched him in the shoulder, "says the boy who wants to crawl in a hole and die."

* * *

"Okay everyone, like I mentioned yesterday today I'll be giving out the assignments. You'll be working in pairs." Mr Petersen droned in a monotone as he stood in front of the media class, looking lanky and awkward. Logan watched from his place at the back of the class as the heads of about half the class members swivelled to stare at Carlos, who seemed completely oblivious. Its like they worshipped him; Logan wouldn't be surprised if they made a human sacrifice for him or something like that.

"The pairs you'll be working in will be allocated by me." The atmosphere of excitement that had built up in the room swiftly died with Mr Petersen's words.  
"This is a mixed media project, so you can use any type of media to do it; photography, film, radio and so on but you must use this media to convey an important and meaningful message of your choice. Okay, now the groups are as following."

Logan stopped listening as Mr Petersen called out pairings, instead boring holes in the back of Carlos' head with his eyes forlornly. He knew he'd probably be paired with some random and all the work would be left to him, it happened far too often. People shuffled around the classroom to join their assigned partners, some looking ecstatic while others looked completely hapless.

"Logan Mitchell…" Logan perked up at the sound of his name; he swore Mr Petersen did this for some kind of vindictive pleasure, like it was some kind of twisted hobby.

"Logan Mitchell, please come and join Carlos Garcia up the front here, you'll be his partner for this project."

Logan's stomach dropped. Did he hear that right? Did he actually get paired with Carlos for a project? He rose on unsteady legs, trying his best to ignore the venomous looks shot his way; this had to be some kind of dream, some terribly bittersweet dream. Mutely Logan took the vacant seat next to Carlos, not daring to meet his eyes.

* * *

Logan was in his media class!? How had Carlos never noticed before? The Latino mentally slapped himself; this fixed everything; the tutoring didn't matter anymore, through this project he could get close to Logan. Everything had worked out. Carlos had to restrain himself from jumping for joy as Logan stood up from his place in the back to take a seat next to him; it was like a god had answered his unspoken prayers. As Mr Petersen read out the last few pairings the class burst out in chatter, people hurriedly constructing plans for the assignment.

"Hi Logan." Carlos said, smiling.

"Hi" replied Logan meekly, ducking his head.

"So, do you have any ideas?" asked Carlos, trying to keep the conversation flowing. Logan shook his head mutely, refusing to meet Carlos' eyes.

"Well how about photography? I'm pretty good with a camera and I bet you are too" Carlos tried to ignore the knots forming in his stomach; this was harder than he thought it would be. But to his relief Logan smiled at the compliment and nodded slowly, "okay, I like photography, that works."

Logan finally raised his head to look up at Carlos and the little dimples that had formed at the corner of his mouth almost caused the Latino to burst out into exultant hysterics. Suddenly an idea hit him and Carlos silently praised himself for his stroke of radical genius.

"Hey Logan?"

"Yeah" replied Logan, eyes widening.

"Um… How would you like to come to mine after school so we could make a start on the project? You know just so you get ahead..." Carlos' heart was beating erratically as he trailed; what if Logan rejected the offer? What was he supposed to do?

"Yeah, okay"

Carlos' eyes widened in surprise, a grin spreading over his face, "really, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," answered Logan, smile widening.

"Great" said Carlos, practically bouncing in his seat, "I'll meet you by your locker okay?"

"Okay." Agreed Logan, the brunette's heart and mind racing.

As the two dived back into planning a thought suddenly occurred to Logan, one that made his already elated heart almost burst with anticipation.

How did Carlos instinctively know where his locker was?

* * *

**Chapter six up in two or three days probably, but until then it is goodbye :)  
****(Oh, and feel free to post a review or follow or whatever, much appreciated)  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay everyone, chapter six.  
****I'm sorry for it being a day late, I found this chapter extremely difficult to write, I struggle with cutesy stuff, I much prefer writing anxiety ridden horror but hey, I made a promise :)  
****I hate** **to have to say this but this will be the last chapter I'm posting for about two weeks, exams are on at the moment so I need to kinda focus on that so I can pass... But to make up for it chapter seven will be fluff overload! **

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Logan wasn't ready for this; he couldn't do this. The bell indicating the end of the school day had rung only two minutes earlier, but in a fevered rush Logan had made it to his locker in record time, stuffing the books he'd study with over the weekend into his bag. For the past minute the brunette had been standing by his locker, bag in hand; expecting his heart to give out at any moment.

He was going to be spending a whole afternoon with Carlos Garcia.

He was going to spend a whole afternoon with Carlos Garcia alone.

Logan began to feel faint.

Scenarios, both good and bad flashed before Logan's eyes. What if he said something wrong, what if Carlos didn't show up, what if Carlos admitted that he'd loved Logan from the first day he'd laid eyes on him?

Logan admitted to himself that the last idea was just wishful thinking, but he couldn't help himself from hoping; he'd gotten this far hadn't he?

"Hey Logan."

The brunette wasn't completely sure, but he thought he felt the ghost of a hand brush his back as the Latino appeared before his eyes, cheerful and smiling.

He couldn't do this.

Words began to tumble from Logan's mouth before he could stop them; "Hi Carlos, you're looking nice."

Logan wanted to ram his head into the nearby locker, you're looking nice? Seriously? Logan knew he'd seen the Latino only an hour earlier. Carlos smiled despite the awkward comment, cheeks turning a light rosy pink.

"Well, do you want to get going? I usually drive home from school."

Logan nodded silently, he didn't trust himself to speak anymore.

* * *

Logan's promise to himself lasted until Carlos found his car, which required more of his attention than Logan thought was needed. This was the third car they'd come to, Carlos having mistaken the previous two for his own. Luckily this vehicle did in fact belong to the Latino but what worried Logan even more was that all the cars Carlos had mistaken for his own all have looked dramatically different. One particular car being a cherry red, while the one that stood before them was a dull grey.

"Sorry about that," said Carlos, with a sheepish smile as they climbed into the car, "I guess I'm a bit distracted."

Logan didn't know exactly what Carlos had meant by the statement but he couldn't help but blush, he just hoped Carlos would be able to devote enough attention to drive without crashing.

"Its okay," Logan muttered, he was surprised he hadn't stuttered, the words had come with more ease, which Logan was thankful for.

"So, any plans for the assignment yet?" Asked Carlos as he turned the ignition, engine purring into life.

"No" answered Logan admittedly, "I didn't really have a chance to think it over much."

"Well I had an idea, if you'd like to hear it?"

Logan turned his head to stare at the Latino who had his eyes firmly planted on the road ahead; he'd sounded so unsure of himself, as if Logan would find his ideas inferior.

"Of course I'd like to hear it" Logan tried to sound reassuring but his voice faltered slightly, the sun overhead illuminated Carlos' olive skin in a beautiful yellow wash that Logan couldn't help but be mesmerised by.

Carlos continued to stare at the road ahead as he relayed his idea to Logan.

"Well I was thinking that the message we conveyed could be something like secrets; you know, because we all have them…"

The Latino trailed off, allowing the pair to fall into silence. Logan tried to give an answer but found he couldn't speak, Carlos' words had thrown him back to that Wednesday, when Logan had been foolish enough to let the Latino catch a glance of his scars. Then something hit him, something that knocked the breath of out the brunette.

What if Carlos was only doing this out of pity, because he only felt sorry for him? What if Carlos was only being nice because he felt he had to? Logan screwed his eyes shut; no, that couldn't be true, he wouldn't let it be. Somehow he felt that if that was the case it would hurt him more than Carlos hating him.

* * *

It was at times like these Carlos wished he wasn't so tactless. Logan looked like he was going to be sick, was it because of what he'd said? Carlos wished he'd just kept it to himself; this was too fast, Logan wasn't going to let him in just because they were working on a project together. The mistake he'd made upset the Latino more than he thought was necessary but he couldn't tolerate the thought of causing Logan pain; if hurt him more than he could understand.

"Hey are you okay Logan?"

Logan didn't reply for several seconds, only nodding his head after opening his eyes again, "yes, I'm fine, just a little motion sickness is all."

Carlos wasn't a high academic achiever, he was happy to admit that, but the lie was frail and the Latino could see right through it, he knew what he'd said had upset Logan.

"You know if you don't like the idea that's okay, we can always come up with another one."

"No, no, your idea is great…"

Logan fell into a brooding silence as Carlos turned into his driveway, pulling the car into park.

"Come on" he said to Logan before getting out, "we don't want to be wasting time."

* * *

"Carlos, is that you? You're home early."

Sylvia's voice rang out from the kitchen, accompanied by the aromatic scent of cooking. Carlos led Logan towards the room that was situated at the back of the house. Upon entering they saw Mrs Garcia facing the stove, throwing an assortment or ingredients into a pan.

"Carlos- oh, who's this?" Sylvia's face creased with a momentary confusion, but she quickly recovered, a smile gracing her features once again.

"Mum, this is Logan, he's ah, he's working on a project with me."

"Oh how lovely, nice to meet you Logan, are you boys hungry?"

Carlos looked to Logan in question but Logan only shook his head with a smile.

"No, we're good mum, thanks anyway."

"Okay," replied Sylvia, turning back to the stove, "I'll be here if you need anything okay?"

"Okay, we'll be upstairs."

Before Logan could thank Mrs Garcia for the offer Carlos dragged him off in the direction of the stairs, the Latino's hand clasped with his own. Logan couldn't help the flaring heat that rushed up his neck as Carlos lead him through a hall lined with photo's of Carlos through the years and other relatives. The stairs creaked underfoot as the two boys went up to the second storey, Logan's hand still locked in Carlos'. The brunette relished in the warmth the Latino's hand carried and tried desperately to beat down the crimson that insisted on remaining present in his cheeks.

"And this is my room." Said Carlos as he and Logan arrived at a closed door. He pushed open the door with a proud smile, hand still locked with Logan's as he led the brunette inside. Logan couldn't say he was overly surprised, the room looked exactly as he had imagined it, a chaotic mess of colour and shade. A desk was pushed up against the wall to the right, a bed against the opposite one. In between was a no man's land filled with clothes, books and an assortment of other objects that Logan couldn't identify.

"This is definitely, definitely homey…" Logan couldn't think of anything better to say, mind completely distracted by Carlos' firm hand that still securely held his own.

"Sorry for the mess, I didn't really give it much thought. " He dropped Logan's hand and collected up some stray articles of clothing, throwing them into a closet that stood by the desk. Logan stared down at his hand in slight shock, the absence of the Latino's hand bringing the fact that Carlos' hand had been locked with his own to reality. He'd been holding Carlos Garcia's hand, Carlos Garcia had been holding his hand!

For the first time Logan registered how fast his heart was thumping against his chest.

"Just make yourself at home."

Logan nodded silently to Carlos and picked his way through to his bed, taking a seat next to the stocky, shorter boy.

"So I was thinking," started Carlos, turning to face Logan, "we could go to the park, for inspiration or something."

"Yeah sure, I'd like that."

"Cool." Carlos grinned and leapt up, pulling a helmet from the anarchic disorder on the floor, pulling it down onto his head. A second later he held a skateboard and camera in each hand.

"Okay, lets go!"

Logan was left no choice but to follow as Carlos bounded from the room, confused as to how he could find anything in the disarray he called a bedroom.

* * *

"So how far away is the park?" Logan asked, standing next to Carlos, the two stood on the Garcia's front lawn, a slight breeze wafting through the air.

"Not far, a couple of blocks down, and it's all downhill so it doesn't take long."

Carlos set his skateboard on the road, planting his foot on it to hold it in place.

"Now, come over here, I want to try something out."

Logan raised his eyebrow, unsure of whether to obey the Latino's request. When Carlos noticed Logan hadn't moved from his place on the grass he smirked, holding out a hand, "come on, it'll be fun, trust me."

Logan gave in to the assurance in Carlos' voice, feeling a comforting warmth blossoming inside his chest. Logan felt like he was in some kind of dream, he'd never thought, not in his entire lifetime that he'd spend an entire afternoon with the boy that admittedly, he was in love with. Every smile Carlos flashed his way sent butterflies spiralling up into Logan's stomach, and every touch sent fireworks off in his head and caused hope to rise high in his heart. When he spent time with Carlos all of his troubles were forgotten, his parents, his pain, his struggle, everything was forgotten; only to be replaced with a pure and contended happiness at being able to spend time with the one person he wanted to be around.

Stepping forward Logan took Carlos' hand and allowed Carlos to direct his movement like a puppeteer. The Latino stood Logan on the front end of the skateboard, leaning over to speak in the brunette's ear, which sent shivers down Logan's body.

"Okay, just stand still on the front, and balance yourself so you don't fall." Carlos waited for Logan to right himself until he was comfortable.

"Good, now are you ready?"

Logan's heart was hammering against his ribcage at such a fast rate, he thought it might break out of his chest.

The brunette nodded hesitantly, taking a sharp intake of breath as he felt Carlos' hands settle of his shoulders.

"Okay, go!"

Logan felt Carlos kick off, the skateboard beginning to roll over the tarmac, slowly picking up momentum as the board made its way downhill. In a matter of moments the board was speeding off down the steep decline, Logan catching sight of the park that sat at the end of the sharply declining road. Their speed increased, the wind whipping savagely at Logan's hair, heart hurtling, Carlos shouting from behind him,  
"Isn't this great!"

Despite the fear that had built up inside Logan he couldn't help but agree. The rush of the wind against his face, the houses flashing by in a blur, the vibration of the unsealed asphalt below, the park rushing up to meet them…

"Carlos?" shouted Logan, dread picking up in his voice, "how do we stop?"

For a moment Logan thought that maybe Carlos hadn't heard him, his words ripped away by the wind but his reply came soon enough.

"I hadn't really thought about that…"

The green was almost upon them and their speed was only increasing. Logan could only watch helplessly as details about the park began to become more prominent, garden beds bustling with vibrantly coloured flowers dotting the grounds, unoccupied benches sitting beneath towering trees, small flocks of birds settling on the grass... With a jarring halt the skateboard ran into the grass of the park and before Logan had time to react he was thrown into the air, landing on the grass with a thud and roll that took the breath out of him. Lying on his back and looking up at the clear sky Logan heard Carlos hit the ground with a grunt, wheezing as the breath escaped his lungs. After a few heaving breathes Carlos rolled over and nudged Logan, grinning like a maniac.

"That was fun."

Logan nodded in reply, smiling wildly.

"Camera's still good." Said Carlos, holding the object in question up, "I guess we should start getting inspired then."

As Logan raised himself unsteadily to his feet he could feel the earth tilting beneath him and quickly lost him balance, falling forward towards Carlos, who was still lying on the floor. Before Logan could say anything he collapsed onto Carlos' chest, face becoming buried in the crook of the Latino's neck. Carlos wheezed again at the sudden weight that had been added to his chest, laughing despite his lack of breath.

"Logan!"

"Sorry!" said Logan, raising his head to look at Carlos, blushing when he met the Latino's eyes.

"No, its okay, its not like we got hurt."

Logan could feel Carlos' chest rising and falling beneath him, this was a dream come true, the brunette savoured the moment, willing it to never end. But it ended all too quickly, seconds passing by all too fast. Getting to his feet again Logan held out his hand for Carlos, who took it and climbed onto his own feet.

"Thanks," said Carlos with a smile, hand still firmly gripping Logan's.

"No problem" said Logan, smiling uncontrollably.

"After we've done this, did you maybe want to stay for dinner? I could drive you home."

It took Logan a couple of moments to comprehend what Carlos had asked, but the offer had romantic scenarios rushing through Logan's mind. Logan looked down at their hands, which remained entwined with one another, Logan relishing in the feel of it. He looked back up to meet Carlos' eyes, leaning in as he answered.

"I'd love to."

* * *

**I have real doubts about this chapter; I'm not really liking it.  
****Please tell me what you guys thought, I love the feedback, I really want to know if this chapter was actually any good.  
****I shall be seeing all you folks in two weeks, so until then stay amazing :) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry this is a day late, I lost my usb yesterday, where all of this is conveniently stored.  
Anyway, I do have few things to make note of before I let you wonderful people read this chapter and those things are:  
1) I apologise for this chapter being a bit shorter, this was more for plot development I guess  
2) Please, please, please take note of the novel exerts, they actually are important to a degree (I also don't own Carrie, that's all Stephen King. I wish I could write like that.)  
3) Next chapter shall be a Kendall chapter! Anyone excited? I am! He is villainous for a reason, but that shall be revealed later!  
4) Oh, and if you guys are interested I posted a new story, called Fragments, its a mystery but focuses on Logan's relationship with Carlos and others, tell me what you think :)  
Now, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! **

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

"Hey mum, Logan's going to stay for dinner!"

Logan trailed in behind Carlos as the two boys entered the house, Sylvia's voice ringing out in a singsong tone.

"Okay, I'll call you when it's on the table!"

Carlos turned and grinned at Logan before leading him into a room that was left off the hall.

"This is the den" said Carlos, gesturing to the room at large with his arms, "did you maybe want to watch a movie?"

When he didn't receive an answer Carlos turned to find Logan staring with wide eyes before a bookshelf stuffed with worn paperbacks.

"They're my mum's" Carlos said, "you like reading don't you?"

Without turning around Logan simply nodded, eyes gazing up at the spines of each book.

"She has everything" Logan breathed, "To Kill a Mockingbird, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Castle Dor, The Picture of Dorian Grey, Pride and Prejudice and Emma…" Logan trailed off, lapsing back into silent marvel.

"You know," began Carlos treading towards Logan, "mum has read all of them, if you want she wouldn't mind if you borrowed one."

Logan spun, face illuminated with a smile.

"Really? Are you sure?"

Carlos, smiling himself nodded at the brunette, who was now looking ecstatic. In only a matter of seconds Logan had slid a book from its place on the shelf and thrown himself down on the couch, opening it eagerly.

"Are you seriously going to read it now?" Asked Carlos, coming to take a seat next to him.

Logan looked up from the yellowed pages, giving him wide eyes, "it's Carrie, I lost my own copy and I never got to finish it, I can read it out loud it you'd like?"

Carlos shrugged his shoulders, "sure why not?"

With a wide smile the brunette's eyes flicked back to the book as he began to read out.

_"When the buckets fell, she was at first only aware of a loud, metallic clang cutting through the music, and then she was deluged in warmth and wetness. She closed her eyes instinctively. There was a grunt from beside her, and in the part of her mind that had come so recently awake, she sensed brief pain.  
(Tommy)"_

"Wait," Carlos interrupted, holding up a finger, "what's going on?"

Logan pursed his lips, mulling it over for a time.

"Don't worry about it" he finally decided, "just enjoy the story."

Carlos raised an eyebrow but let Logan continue his reading, enjoying the sound of the brunette's voice.

_"The music came to a crashing, discordant halt, a few voices hanging on after it like broken strings, and in the sudden deadness of anticipation, filling the gap between event and realization, like doom, she heard someone say quite clearly:  
'My God, that's blood.'  
A moment later, as if to ram the truth of it home, to make it utterly and exactly clear, someone screamed.  
Carrie sat with her eyes closed and felt the black bulge of terror rising in her mind. Momma had been right, after all. They had taken her again, gulled her again, made her the butt again. The horror of it should have been monotonous, but it was not; they had gotten her up here, up here in front of the whole school, and had repeated the shower-room scene only the voice had said  
(my god that's blood)  
something too awful to be contemplated. If she opened her eyes and it was true, oh, what then?  
What then?"_

Logan stopped reading and looked up at Carlos, who managed a forced and queasy smile.

"That was, um, certainly graphic…." Carlos smiled again, "yeah, graphic…"

"Boy's dinner!"

Carlos jumped up from his place on the sofa and grabbed Logan's hand,  
the smile coming to his face naturally now, Logan himself smiling at the feeling of the Latino's hand against his own, a feeling he could certainly get used to.

* * *

Dinner was a casual affair in the Garcia house, Logan soon realised as banter between Carlos and his mother began the moment the three of them took their seats.

"So Logan, how long have you and Carlos been friends for?"

Logan gave Carlos a sideways glance before answering, somewhat meekly.

"Well I guess we've been friends since, well, today…"

"Really?" asked Sylvia with genuine surprise, "you two seem awfully close though."

"What do you mean?" Asked Carlos, "you haven't seen us since we got here."

She answered his question with a wink.

"A mother always knows my dear Carlos, a mother always knows."

The Latino sat back in his chair was a light blush, staring down at his plate of massacred food to let Sylvia continue her interrogation.

"How do you perform at school Logan? My Carlos here isn't overly fond of school, he gets distracted quite easily."

Logan allowed a small laugh at the Latino's expense before answering, "I do well enough, nothing special though."

"That's not true!" Interjected Carlos, "Logan is like the smartest kid in the entire school, he knows everything about everything, his lowest score on a test is like ninety five precent!"

"Carlos, don't be ridiculous, I'm not that smart…"

"But you are!" Insisted Carlos, "you're the smartest person I've ever met!"

Logan didn't reply only smiling shyly at the Latino's insistences.

"Well I could sit here and listen to you two bicker all night but I have paperwork that needs doing so if its alright I'll leave you two to clean up?"

"Yeah, that's fine, me and Logan will clean up."

"Thank you" Sylvia said with a friendly smile before departing the room.

"You done?" Carlos asked, looking at Logan for an answer. The brunette nodded and the two stood, collecting dishes and carrying them into the kitchen.

* * *

Logan had no idea what had happened. He really didn't know how the situation at escalated to this point.

"I'm going to get you for that!" Threatened Carlos, glaring at him, "just you wait."

Before Logan could manage a retort a fistful of white, velvety bubbles was smothered into his face, causing him to splutter.

"Carlos!"

"What? I warned you!"

It had begun as only an accident. Logan had been washing up some of the dishes and accidently splashed Carlos with some of the bubbles, but Carlos, who seemed to find it funny, had retaliated by scooping a handful of bubbles from the sink and running them through Logan's hair. And now, five minutes later the two were almost covered in soapsuds, neither refusing to back down.

With a conniving grin Logan scooped a handful of water from the sink, flinging it in Carlos' direction, watching as it soaked through the thin cotton of the Latino's shirt.

"Logan!"

"What?" Logan answered, grabbing a dishtowel from the counter and heading towards Carlos to hand it to him, "I warned you!"

"Did not" retorted the Latino with a half-hearted glare.

The floor beneath Logan was slick with bubbles and water and as he took a step he lost his footing, sliding forward haphazardly. Leaning forward Logan overbalanced, stumbling as he rushed to meet the ground. Logan raised his arms to his face, eyes screwed shut tight, ready for impact but that impact never came, two firm hands had caught him. He struggled up into a standing position but still the hands held tight, Logan meeting Carlos' eyes with a blush.

"I know, I'm clumsy, sorry."

Carlos, with a gleam in his eyes pulled Logan to his chest, a laugh escaping from deep within him, "I think it's cute."

As muscled arms wrapped around the brunette's waist and held him tight it was all Logan could do to stay standing. Every muscle in his body had locked up, as if someone had turned the key and the cogs had stopped turning. Logan simply stood; slowly melting into the embrace he didn't dare question.

"Um, Carlos-"

Abruptly Carlos pulled away and turned to give him mother a sheepish grin, who was stood in the doorway, eyes wide.

"Yes mum?"

"I was just going to suggest that you take Logan home, its getting late, but if you two are busy…"

Sylvia spoke slowly, as if trying to comprehend the situation herself.

"No, no!" Answered Carlos, too quickly to be casual; he blushed a deep crimson, "yeah, I'll take him home."

* * *

The first leg of the drive was mostly silent, Logan flipping through the worn and wrinkled pages of the Carrie book lent to him.

"Sorry about earlier, I mean, it was a little random."

Logan didn't dare raise his eyes, staring down at the book as he replied,

"don't apologise, I had fun tonight."

"Really?"

The hope in his voice was almost heart wrenching and Logan couldn't help but look up with a timid smile,

"the most fun that I've had in a very long time."

"I feel the same."

The words jolted Logan, having heard them a million times before in his dreams but in a different context, he could only wish.

* * *

"Where the hell have you been!"

The words rung out from the kitchen, shattering Logan's positive demeanour like a stone would a mirror. He didn't answer, opting to creep up the stairs and hope his father didn't repeat the question.

"I said, where have you been?"

The words were fierce enough to splinter ice; Logan gulped.

"I-I was just at a f-friends, working on an assignment."

"Bull!"

With a quaking heart Logan dashed up the stairs as he heard the scraping sound of chair legs against the floor.

"Don't try and run from me you pathetic shit!"

Logan managed to reach his room, but not fast enough to lock the door behind him; his father was upon him before he could take a breath.

"Don't you lie to me, I know when you're lying!" He had Logan by the collar, shaking him fiercely.

Logan shook his head, eyes shut tightly against his father's sour breath.

"I'm n-not lying! I promise I'm not lying!"

The plea wasn't enough; the punch was so forceful, the brunette lost consciousness.

* * *

Logan awoke with a groan, he was in his room, it was dark, it was silent; his parents were sleeping. Tears were falling before Logan could force them back, opening that reservoir of raw emotional pain. He collapsed onto the bed, choking back a strangled sob.

In only a matter of moments the best night of his life had turned into one of the darkest. Never before had his father hurt him to such an extent. The pain was only a dull echo of what if must have been but Logan knew there'd be a large bruise there.

"Why?" He asked the silence around him as he let out another sob,

"why me? What did I do to deserve this?"

He could almost hear the darkness laughing back at him, mocking his pain, taking pleasure in his misery.

* * *

Carlos couldn't sleep, adrenalin still pumped through his veins.

The afternoon had been the best the Latino had ever experienced, the short time he'd spent with Logan easily one of the best moments of his life. Carlos, that afternoon had come to a somewhat welcome revelation as the two had been washing up. It was a revelation he was glad to have had. He liked Logan Mitchell; hell it wouldn't even be a stretch to say he loved Logan Mitchell.

The thought brought a giddy smile to his face; he found it funny that in such a short time he was so sure about what he felt but Carlos had never felt surer about anything in his life; he, for lack of better words, loved Logan Mitchell.

* * *

**Yay, Carlos has feels!  
****I hope to have them together soon, because I'm starting to get impatient with myself...  
Anyway, review and stuff, I'll love you for it! **


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while, this chapter was really hard to write :/  
****I'll hopefully have chapter nine up really soon but no promises!  
I was really tired when I edited this so mind any mistakes, I take full responsibility for them :P  
****Hope you all enjoy :) **

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

The library was as quite as usual but as Logan weaved cautiously through the shelves, searching for his extortionist he also could feel a sense of anticipation in the air, one that only he was aware of. He soon caught sight of Kendall sitting at a small table nestled in the corner of two selves. He had his feet resting on its scratched and rutted surface, eyes focused on his phone as he tapped away at its screen with lithe movements. Logan's nerves fired up and although he was silent as he approached Kendall look up all the same, seemingly sensing his presence. A mocking smile took up residence of the green-eyed boy's face, gesturing for Logan to have a seat. The brunette complied, eyes downcast as he waited for Kendall to speak.

"Wise choice Loges, I knew you'd show up, after all, you're supposed to be smart!"

When Logan didn't make a reply Kendall continued, unperturbed by Logan's silence.

"Now, down to business, Logan you'll be doing some work for me, I want you to give me everything I need to know for finals in one neat little document. I don't care much for this school stuff but I at least need a passing grade to get anywhere with hockey. As I said I don't really think you have a choice, I mean you don't want anyone finding out about, well you know…" He made a cutting gesture with his hands.

Chuckling to himself, Kendall continued, "so I want you to make a start on that, well, now. I want it by Friday, got that?"

He raised a questioning eyebrow but Logan only nodded, refusing to meet those malicious eyes.

"Great!"

Kendall stood abruptly, clapping a hand over Logan's shoulder,

"Glad we could have this little chat, remember, Friday."

Logan listened to Kendall's retreating footsteps, letting his forehead rest against the cool of the table. His mind was whirling. Everything was happening much to fast. The problem with his father had escalated to a whole new point, Kendall's blackmail, his new found friendship with Carlos…

Logan heard light footsteps as someone hurried by him, the brunette catching a musky scent that reminded him of cloves…

He lifted his head, taking in a deep breath of air. What was he to do about Kendall? He didn't want to conform to the wishes of the conniving boy but what choice did Logan have? He'd have to or otherwise he'd risk his relationship with Carlos, not to mention bringing unwanted attention to himself. Logan went to stand, but as he did so his hand brushed against something on the table, something that hadn't been there before.

A note, worn and crinkled sat on the edge of the table, folded up into a small square. Letters written in a slanted fashion proclaimed it was for him.

_Logan_

The brunette looked around but there was no one else present in the small nook. With a slight hesitation Logan took the note and unfolded it, his mind hoping against hope that a certain Latino had placed it there.

_Dear Logan,_  
_I'm going to be blunt, I don't really think there's any point in trying to be vague. I like you; I really like you. I don't know for how long and I don't know why, all I know is that I really like you. I'd like to be brave enough to tell you in person but I'm not because I'm scared you'll reject me. So for now just that you know is enough and maybe one day I'll have to courage to talk to you. In reality though its all wishful thinking, I know you have your heart set on someone else so I hope you have a nice life with him._  
_Signed,_  
_D_

Logan stared at the note, dumbfounded as the meaning on the words sunk in. This was too much; this was too sudden.

Logan collapsed back into the chair, pinching the bridge of his nose fiercely.

Why now? Why now, of all times did something like this have to happen? Couldn't he catch a break? He already had enough on his plate.

"Hey, Logan!"

Logan's whirled his head around, tension flowing from him as he saw Carlos approaching him, after being pointedly shushed by a nearby librarian.

The Latino dropped down into the seat, the one, only minutes before Kendall had occupied, Logan, in spite of himself, smiled at the swift turn of events.

Carlos didn't give the shaken brunette a chance to speak, talking rapidly, an excited gleam in his eye.

"I was thinking that maybe you could come sit with me and my friends at lunch today?"

It was when Logan didn't reply that the Latino noticed something was playing at his mind.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked tentatively, reaching from Logan's hand. When the Latino's hand brushed against his own Logan jerked violently, pulling his hand away. He stared at Carlos, as if seeing him for the first time. The brunette, after a few stoic moments gave a weak and forced smile, muttering a stream of incoherent words that Carlos took for an apology.

"Seriously Logan, what's the matter?"

Logan shook his head furiously, averting his eyes from the Latino's deep brown ones.

"Logan…"

The brunette sighed, dropping his head back down to the table.

"Nothing's wrong" he mumbled, "I've just got a lot on my mind is all; don't worry yourself about it."

Carlos pursed is lips, cocking his head to the side as he scrutinized Logan. After a few moments he nodded,

"alright, if you say so."

Logan looked up at the Latino and smiled softly.

"Now what did you ask me?"

At the mention of his suggestion Carlos' demeanour immediately brightened.

"Oh right, well I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come sit with me and my friends at lunch time? I thought you'd like the company?"

Logan pretended to consider the proposition for a moment, weighing it up as if he had some other choice.

"Alright" he answered, "I'd love to."

Carlos was positively bouncing up and down in his seat, grinning manically.

"Really?"

Logan rolled his eyes.

"Yes! I promise I'll be there!"

"Awesome!"

Carlos jumped from his seat and went to dash off in the direction of the library exit. But before he could take more than two steps Logan asked a sudden question that had the Latino come to a stop.

"This means we're friends right?"

Carlos turned and furrowed his eyebrows, answering with a smile.

"Yes Logan, I think this means we're friends."

It was safe to say that Logan Mitchell had never really had a friend before. In the space of about ten minutes the brunette had been bombarded with three very different pieces of information. Kendall had him in a position he couldn't possibly back out of, someone, somewhere in the school held romantically inclined feelings for him, and that now he had at least one person he could safely call a friend. At the sound of the bell Logan left the library, worried, curious and excited.

* * *

Gym.

Logan loathed the class and all its occupants, ditsy girls that had their eyes glued to their phone all lesson and Neanderthal boys that Logan believed must be the missing link between man and ape. They had all gathered around Coach Wilson at one end of the gymnasium, Logan hanging at the back of the group, waiting impatiently for a bell he knew wouldn't sound for another hour.

"Alright," began the Coach gruffly, "today we'll be beginning volleyball, we'll start with a few serving techniques."

In the next ten minutes Coach Wilson demonstrated several different serving techniques, all of which Logan knew he wouldn't be able to successfully do. Being in the gym brought back memories of his first meeting with Kendall, where the green-eyed boy had pitched his idea of blackmailing Logan into helping him pass finals. With a bitter smile Logan thought that if Kendall had just simply asked, he probably would have done it willingly.

Everything was so much more complicated than it needed to be.

"Mitchell! Logan Mitchell!"

The brunette was pulled from his reverie by the Coach's shouts. Every member of the class had their eyes turned on him, the girls smiling with venom, boys sneering down at him with contempt.

"Y-yes?" Answered Logan unsurely, trying his best to ignore the other students.

"Logan I asked if you'd like to help me demonstrate how to do a topspin serve?"

Logan knew he didn't have a choice so he nodded timidly, his classmates parting as he stepped forward to join the coach. As he passed the last of the students he felt his feet get caught up in something and when he looked back Logan saw the smirk on the face of one of the tall, athletic boys; Jett, his name may have been. Before Logan had a chance to react the floor rushed up to meet him, the two colliding with a pained grunt from Logan. For a moment the class was completely silent, Logan simply lying on the linoleum floor. But that moment passed quickly and within seconds every member of the class was in hysterics, people supporting one another as they all gasped for air between manic laughs.

Struggling up to his feet Logan looked around himself, at the taunting and mocking laughs, at the accusatory fingers pointed and jabbed at him. He turned to Coach Wilson, who simply stood there with a cocked eyebrow, a small and amused smile tugging at his lips. The sounds of the snickers and sniggers were overwhelming; Logan stumbled away from the clustered group; his eyes meeting those of Jett's for a spilt second. In that second his saw the malice and hatred that those eyes bore, that Jett bore for Logan.

"That's right, run fag!"

The words hit Logan like a gunshot, knocking him to the ground again. At this the class broke down into another bout of hysterics, Coach Wilson joining them. Tears stung the brunette's eyes as he got to his feet, running blindly towards the gym's exit, streams of tears prickling the soft skin of his cheeks. Never, in all his life had anyone at school ever said a word against Logan; but something had changed, everything had escalated; everything was getting worse. Not only did people ignore him; they also hated him.

Kendall had been right after all.

* * *

Lunch swung around in quick procession, Carlos barrelling into the cafeteria, eager for Logan's arrival. Midway to his table Carlos was stopped by a gaggle of girls who looked to be no older than fifteen.

"You must be Carlos" said the girl who appeared to be leading them, a blonde wearing about six inches of makeup.

"I'm Jennifer" she fluttered her eyelashes dramatically and leant forward, the five odd girls behind her whispering and giggling all the while.

"You know" she continued, taking a predatory step forward, running a finger down Carlos' arm in what he guessed was supposed to be a seductive fashion,  
"you're really hot."

Carlos took a step back, grimacing as he looked for someone to rescue him.

"I think we'd make a great couple…" she drawled, pursing her heavily chapped lips.

"Sorry" said Carlos apologetically, backing away, "I'm taken; I've got a boyfriend."

Before Jennifer could reply Carlos dashed off to the safety of his usual lunch table, glaring at the amused expressions of his friends.

"Got cornered by the Jennifers and their gang huh?" Questioned Lucy with a grin.

"Shut up" answered Carlos, turning away from her. He scanned the cafeteria crowd for Logan but saw no sign of the brunette.

"So what did you say to escape them?" Asked Camille curiously, leaning in for an answer.

"Well I said-"

Carlos, on recollecting the encounter realised exactly what he'd said.

"Oh God I'm stupid" he muttered, shaking his head with a groan, "I'm so stupid!"

"What is it?" Camille and Lucy asked in unison, Jo and Kendall now picking up on the threads of the conversation.

"What's going on?" Asked Kendall, looking from the eager faces of Lucy and Camille to the pained face of Carlos.

"I'm stupid" moaned the Latino, slamming his forehead against the table.

"Carlos is stupid" offered James, looking up from his handheld mirror, as he brushed aside a stray strand of hair.

Before anyone could provide any extra explanation Logan arrived at the table, hesitantly tapping Carlos on the shoulder.

Carlos turned and looked up, his frown transforming into a smile the moment his registered the presence as Logan's.

"Logan, come sit down!"

"Carlos, is it okay if I just talk to you for a second?"

The Latino stood up slowly, nodding,

"sure" he said, "of course."

Logan drew him aside, out of earshot of the others, the Latino noticing how Logan's eyes were glued to those of Kendall's.

"What's up Logan?" he asked in concern.

Abruptly tears sprung to Logan's eyes, the brunette choking back a sob,

"is it okay if I come over your house after school?"

Carlos struggled to refrain himself from taking the vulnerable looking boy into an embrace, to whisper soothing words into his ear. But all he could do as he looked around at the crowded area was say,

"yeah Logan, of course you can."

* * *

**By the way, if anyone is interested I will have a Supernatural fanfiction up in the near future, and if you have no idea what Supernatural is do yourself a favour and watch it because its quite the amazing one :) **


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm so sorry for the long absence, I went on a slightly unexpected vacation to a location that had absolutely no internet access, but now I'm back! Which, of course means more regularly updated chapters (hopefully) and also that Supernatural fic I mentioned, which shall be up soon for all that are interested :)  
I hope the grammar is okay, I did the editing at a ridiculous hour of the night...  
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy, this started of all angst ridden but then it turned into some kind of fluff fest...  
**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

The ride home was awkward to say the least. Logan didn't speak, only stared out the window, eyes glazed over with a look of pain. Carlos gave the brunette sideways glances throughout the drive, but they went unnoticed. Carlos didn't dare speak, for fear of breaking what little composure Logan had managed to build around himself. When the two stepped inside the Garcia residence Carlos figured, by the relative silence, that Sylvia wasn't home; he ushered Logan upstairs and into his room, throwing aside a pile of crumpled clothes to give Logan space of the bed.

When the Latino closed the door he turned to Logan and asked in the softest voice he could muster,

"Did you want to tell me what's wrong?"

Logan stared at Carlos for a few moments, seeming not to process what the Latino had said. He blinked once, and when he tried to speak his words came out a strangled cry, tears suddenly springing forth from his eyes.

"I-I-It's all getting too hard," Logan managed, before burying his face in his hands, silent sobs racking his gaunt frame.

Carlos rushed over and crouched before the brunette, prying Logan's hands from his face and gently, but firmly raising his chin, until the two were at eye level with one another.

"I-I-I just c-can't."

Logan screwed his eyes shut and let another wave of silent moans beset his body.

"Logan, Logan," the Latino tried his best to hush the distressed brunette, but to no avail. Logan continued his crying, the silence of it all making it all the more heart breaking for Carlos. The Latino joined Logan on the edge of the bed, encircling his arms around the helpless brunette, rocking him back and forth slowly.

"Hey, it's going to be okay, I'm here, everything's going to be okay."

Logan leant into Carlos' shoulder, sniffling as Carlos shifted again, placing Logan atop his lap, to hold him more securely. After a few minutes the sniffling subsided into silence and finally Logan spoke, his voice holding some strength to it.

"It's, just that everything is getting too hard. I thought things were getting better but somehow I just got shoved further down into the dark. I'm so scared Carlos, I'm so scared. Scared of what other people are going to do to me, but terrified of what I'm going to do to myself…" He finished in a strained whisper, voice slightly muffled by Carlos' sweater.

"Is that why you didn't want to go home?"

Logan only nodded, the two lapsing back into silence.

After a time Carlos spoke up again, resting his chin upon Logan's head.

"You know, Logan, if you want, you could always stay the night here, you're completely welcome, I know my mum wouldn't mind."

The brunette raised his head to give Carlos a frail smile, eyes red and irritated from the tears he had shed, and hair ruffled from his time spent nestled in the crook of Carlo's shoulder.

"Do you mean it?" He asked, teary eyes large and hopeful.

"Of course I mean it," smiled the Latin, "I'd love nothing more."

"Then I think maybe it'd be best if I stayed here tonight."

* * *

The night wore on quickly and dinner with the Garcia's passed in a blur of laughter and smiles. He quickly found himself back up in the Latino's disordered room, watching from his place on the bed as Carlos led a futile search through the chaos that was his closet.

"Come on, I know it has to be here somewhere!" Said Carlos angrily to himself as he pulled what looked to be the remains of a tartan scarf from the depths of the wardrobe, throwing it over his shoulder as he continued searching.

The torn and tattered scarf settled itself at Logan's feet, and after a few moments of quizzical inspection he asked,  
"Carlos, what exactly are you looking for?"

"Scrabble!"

"What?" Logan stared at the Latino, who had managed to uproot the board game from wherever it had been hidden. The grin he wore was one so wide Logan was surprised he hadn't managed to split his cheeks open.

"Well I know you're feeling upset and when I'm upset board games always help, so I thought maybe it would make you feel better."

The Latino cleared a space on the floor and went about setting up the game, sitting cross-legged with adamant eyes when he finished.

"You do know how to play don't you?"

Logan nodded, joining Carlos on the floor, "yeah, I know how to play."

"Good," Carlos smiled and handed Logan a small bag, which was filled with the milky white letter tiles.

"Now choose your seven letters, and no cheating!"

Without looking Logan sifted through the tiles and collected seven, set them on his rack, and handed the bag back to Carlos. Logan inspected the letters he'd collected, smiling at the seven-letter word he could construct from them.

"Okay Logan, you go first," said Carlos with a smile, waiting as Logan set out his seven tiles on the board.

"R-ro-romance..." Carlos read as Logan set them down one by one.

"Yeah…" answered Logan, not daring to meet the Latino's eyes and the smile he knew he wore. Logan could feel the heat crawling up his neck and onto his cheeks, inwardly cursing the feelings he held.

Carlos shrugged and smiled, "hey, you used all seven tiles. You're pretty good at this game."

* * *

Two hours and three games later the two sat in a heated argument with one another, Carlos with his arms crossed defiantly and Logan trying his best to reason with the stubborn Latino.

"But it is a word!" Insisted Carlos, "I know it is!"

"I think I know what word you have in mind, but you've just spelt it, and pronounced it wrong."

Carlos poked his tongue out at the brunette and said, "prove it then."

Logan sighed, "Fine; do you have a dictionary?"

"Dictionary…?"

"Carlos please tell me you have a dictionary."

The Latino looked at Logan uncertainly, "should I have a dictionary?"

Logan sighed again and said, "look, I think you're trying to spell the word masque, but you've spelt it m-a-s-s-k-e-w, not m-a-s-q-u-e."

Carlos gave the brunette a confused look.

"I'm not trying to spell the word mask, and you spelt mask wrong."

Logan gave another long sigh and smiled, "no it's just pronounced mask is all, it's still spelt m-a-s-q-u-e. Do you even know what it means?"

"What's it to you if I don't?"

At Carlos' retort Logan began to laugh, a light, almost hysterical sound escaping from his throat.

"It isn't funny!" Said Carlos, glaring at the brunette.

At that Logan laughed even harder, nodding his head furiously, insisting that it was.

"Oh look, too bad, an earthquake hit Scrabble land!"

Carlos lifted the board and shook it fiercely, vowels and consonants flying in all directions. Logan's laughing died down, the brunette raising a questioning eyebrow at the Latino.

"There are no earthquakes in Scrabble land, that only happens in Monopoly!"

"Yeah well I'm god of Scrabble land, and what I say goes."

To that Logan let out another laugh, this time a childish giggle that left Carlos grinning.

"So what are we going to do now?" Asked Logan, "I mean, you decimated Scrabble land."

"I'm not sure…" replied Carlos, looking around his room for something else to occupy the two.

"I know! I brought Carrie, we could read more of that!"

Carlos thought back to the exert Logan had read to him last time.

"I have a better idea," he said, although he had absolutely nothing of the kind.

"What?" Asked Logan, watching Carlos intently, waiting for the Latino's answer.

"Well…" Carlos scanned the room desperately looking for something, anything. He didn't think he could stomach a second helping of Stephen King. Carlos' eyes landed on a plastic crown studded with faux glass emeralds and a soldier's helmet, complete with a dull, flexible spike. The Latino jumped to his feet and grabbed them, setting the crown atop Logan's dark hair and the soldier's cap atop his own head. Logan rose uncertainly, staring at Carlos wonderingly.

"Sire, the enemy has reached the city's borders! What are we to do?"

Logan smirked with a sudden understanding, jumping to stand on the bed, using it as a makeshift throne.

"Well you shouldn't be standing here! You're the army's commander, you should be out there on the frontline, leading the attack! I ought to have you in the gallows for this display of cowardice!"

Carlos took a step back.

"No, your grace, have mercy! I came to protect you, in the event that the enemy breaches the city walls!"

Logan pretended to consider the plea for a moment, before saying, "If you've came to protect me then I suggest you make use of yourself, escort me back to my chambers!"

Carlos looked over his shoulder, feigning a look of horror, "oh no, the enemy have reached the castle! Your grace, watch out for that arrow!"

The Latino jumped onto the bed and tackled Logan onto the mattress, the two breathless.

"Commander, you saved my life…"

"All in a days work my lord," answered Carlos, grinning.

"But there must be some way I can reward you…"

Carlos stared into Logan's eyes, unsure of exactly what the brunette was suggesting. Logan leant in ever so slightly, Carlos doing the same. The two were mere inches away when Sylvia, rather unceremoniously threw open the door; the two boys jumping away from one another violently.

Sylvia looked between the two boys, who both wore bashful smiles.

"I was just coming up to tell you boys that I was heading off to bed, but I can see you're busy…" With a knowing smile she closed the door, leaving the two in a tense silence.

"Well it is getting late…"

Logan nodded in agreement, "we should be getting to bed…"

"Good idea."

"So where will I be sleeping?"

Carlos looked at Logan for a few minutes, beginning to blush when he realised what the brunette had asked.

"Well I thought that, since my bed is so big, I mean, I thought you could just, well you know, you could just…" Carlos lapsed into silence, allowing Logan to finish the sentence for himself.

"That we could just share the bed?"

Carlos nodded in confirmation. Logan tried is best to hold his calm but his mind was in complete havoc.

_I'm going to share a bed with Carlos Garcia? Oh God, oh God… What have I gotten myself into? Hell, he doesn't even like me that way… How could he? I'm lucky he considers me a friend…_

Logan tried his best to keep tone neutral as he answered.

"Fine, but I get the duvet."

* * *

Logan awoke with the coming of dawn. Glancing at Carlos' bedside clock he read that it was six-thirty. He sighed and went to roll over but froze when he registered the pressure on his back and arm.

"Oh geez…" He muttered to himself as he raised his head and found that in his sleep Carlos had managed to nestle up against the brunette's back, and wrap a wiry muscled arm around Logan's exposed side.

Logan's heart began to thump at a faster rate, his mouth suddenly becoming dry like sandpaper.

"Logan stay calm, he's sleeping, you should probably just wake him up…"

But Logan couldn't bring himself to do it. Carlos looked so peaceful, a small smile playing at his lips. Logan lay back down on the pillow and allowed himself a smile of his own. He knew the day coming would be a long one, so much had happened in such a short time. This new found friendship, Kendall's blackmail, the escalating situation at home, his own internal struggle, the mysterious declaration of love in the form of an anonymous note and the beginning of what Logan feared could be full scale bullying at school…

But there, in Carlos' arms, none of it mattered, Logan felt peaceful, all his worries and troubles mere whims that seemed a world away; because for that morning Logan was content to stay safe and sheltered in Carlos' arms.

* * *

**Chapter ten shall be up soon, which I'm excited for, something terrible happens to Logan!  
****I just realised how terribly sadistic that sounded, I apologise, that was cruel. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Merry christmas everyone!  
****I'd just like to say thank you so much to all my reviewers, you guys never fail to put a smile on my face, and you are all so patient, this fast update is to make up for my two week absence. A few of you have said you'd like longer chapters, so hopefully after this one I'll begin to raise the word count to three thousand, maybe even four.  
Yeah, that's how much I love you guys.  
****Anyways, have fun reading and I hope to be updating again very soon! **

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

"Carlos, I'm not sure about this…"

"Don't be silly Logie, it's not like they're going to eat you."

"Logie?" The brunette gave Carlos an indignant look.

Carlos chuckled as he pulled into the school's car park, "well it's just easier to say is all."

"Well if that's how it's going to be," Logan paused, thinking for a moment, "I guess I'll just have to call you Car then."

"Was that really the best you could come up with?"

Logan gave the Latino a meek look, shrugging his shoulders, "I don't work that well when I'm put on the spot; it's a work in progress."

Carlos chuckled again and climbed out of the car, joining Logan by the passenger door. The shorter boy caught sight of James and Camille by the school's entrance, the two looking to be in deep conversation. Carlos was about to beacon to them but Logan put a hand on his arm, saying, rather haltingly,

"As I said, I don't think this is a great idea…"

"What could possibly go wrong Logan? There's no harm in making more friends, and it's not like you've never met any of them before, I just thought maybe it was time you were inducted into our friendship circle, I'm sure they'll all be happy to have you."

Logan looked at Carlos pleadingly as he began to head over to them, "what if they don't like me?"

Carlos rolled his eyes, "why wouldn't they like you?"

He continued on walking, giving Logan no choice but to follow.

"Oh hey Carlos, Logan." Camille smiled at the two of them, James ceasing to speak when they came into earshot.

"What were you guys talking about?" Carlos asked, Logan standing next to him, doing his best to go unnoticed.

"Nothing in particular," answered Camille, "James was just-"

"We weren't saying anything," cut in James, who sounded as blunt as ever, "but if you'll excuse me I have an English essay that needs writing."

He didn't so much as acknowledge Carlos, giving Logan a forced smiled before turning away sharply and disappearing into the school building.

"Maybe you should go and talk to him," said Camille, looking worriedly in the direction James had gone. When Carlos glanced at Logan, who looked rather helpless and confused, Camille, a little eagerly said, "don't worry, I'll keep Logan company."

Carlos smiled gratefully before speeding off after James, leaving Logan to fend for himself.

"So Logan," began Camille, "this is the first time I've caught you alone, ever since you and Carlos started talking I haven't really seen you with anybody else."

"Carlos is a good friend, actually, he's my only friend."

Camille took a step forward and slung an arm around the brunette's shoulders, ignoring the minute flinch he gave.

"Well Logan, look's to me that now you have two friends, and by lunchtime you'll have four more."

"You want me to join you guys?" Asked Logan, surprised.

"Of course!" Said Camille, sounding shocked, "it's about time that you did, you'll fit right in, we're a mismatched bunch but that's what so great about us, I guess sitting with us last week was like a bit of a test run, but now you're in for the real thing!" She laughed to herself, grabbing Logan's wrist as she led him into the school building,

"come on, I think you should have some one-on-one time with us girls, where could Lucy and Jo be?"

* * *

"Hey James, wait up!"

The Latino had caught sight of his friend disappearing around a corner, and he broke into a run in order to catch up with him.

"James, what's up? You've been acting really strange recently."

Carlos reached out to grab his friend's shoulder but James spun around to face the Latino, his face a stony mask of anger.

"Leave me alone Carlos."

"James…"

"Carlos, I said leave!"

The Latino took a step back, shocked from the real fury he heard in James' voice, something he didn't think his friend was capable of.

"James, what's wrong with you?"

"You want to know what's wrong?" He took a rapid step forward, glaring spitefully at the Latino.

"You. You Carlos, are what's wrong, I don't think I can suffer another second around you."

"James, what are you saying?" Carlos could feel his throat tightening. People had begun to cease their activities and watch the dispute between the two boys.

James only shook his head, his fringe falling over his eyes momentarily before he brushed it back with a hand.

"Carlos you're lucky, lucky and ungrateful and I can't stomach another inch of you."

James went to push past the Latino but Carlos grabbed his arm, looking the taller boy straight in the eyes.

"James, what did I do wrong?"

James let out a barking laugh, one that was heavy with contempt.

"What did you do wrong? It's too late now to be trying to make amends Carlos, the damage has been done."

The taller boy pulled his arm from Carlos' grip and left the Latino alone with a cluster of curious eyes, all of who began to whisper among themselves. Carlos felt tears clawing at his own eyes, but he forced them back. His long time friend seemed to have brewed some kind of deep hatred for him and Carlos couldn't fathom the reasoning behind it; the Latino couldn't think of a single thing he'd done to wrong James. Muttering, Carlos headed off to find Logan and Camille, maybe she'd be able to shed some light on the whole situation.

* * *

"Lucy, Camille, there you are!"

Logan heaved a sigh of relief when Camille finally located the two girls, who had been talking amongst themselves by the doors to the school's theatre. Camille had dragged Logan through just about every hall and corridor the school had, and all the while Logan had been trying his best to ignore the hateful looks people had been directing his way that Camille seemed oblivious to. Word about the incident during gym seemed to have circulated; Logan was surprised someone hadn't tried to spit on him yet. Stepping back inside the school had caused all the memories from the previous day to come flooding back, Logan having forgotten them in the wake of the time he'd spent with Carlos. But now that he was back, he knew they'd all come back to haunt him.

"Hey Camille, hey Logan," said Jo by way of greeting, Lucy giving the two a small wave and smile.

"Jo, Lucy," said Camille with a grin on her face, "I think it's time to introduce Logan to our little circle within a circle; the girl's group."

Logan stared at the three with wide eyes, "what? Girl's group?"

"Well, Logan you're gay, it's close enough."

"G-gay?" Logan spluttered, shock taking its toll on the brunette's wits.

"Yes…" Said Camille slowly, as the three looked at him worriedly.

"But, I-I never said anything…"

"Logan," said Jo softly, "there are some things that are just so blindly obvious that they don't need to be said."

Recovering slowly Logan asked, "was it really that obvious?"

Lucy nodded, "there's only so many cardigans a straight male can own…" she gestured to the striped navy coloured one that Logan wore.

"But that's not important," said Camille, "we have a question."

Logan regarded the three girls warily, before saying, "go ahead…"

"Well," begun Jo, "we were just wondering what your feelings towards Carlos were…"

"F-feelings!" Logan almost collapsed. How could they possibly know?

Camille and Lucy smirked, the three beginning to giggle.

"I knew it, I knew it!" Said Jo excitedly, "I just knew it!"

"Now we all know what we need to do, don't we?" Asked Camille.

The two other girls nodded and in a matter of seconds they had all disappeared, galloping down the halls to an unknown destination. Logan didn't bother trying to follow, he just hoped the three of them could keep a secret, and that they hadn't sped off to find Carlos. Logan couldn't help but feel faint; he'd put his trust into three people he barely knew, he prayed they wouldn't break it.

* * *

As it turned out Lucy, Jo and Camille had sped off to find Carlos, but the three didn't dare break the trust the timid brunette had endowed them with. The trio cornered the Latino into an empty classroom, forcing him to take a seat at one of the many desks.

"What are you guys doing?" He asked, giving them a guarded look.

"You know," said Camille with a quirk of a smile, "you're lucky everybody likes you so much Carlos, that you're so popular. You're lucky the Jennifers, bless their ignorant hearts, only mentioned that little slip of the tongue to us, otherwise you would be in deep water my friend."

She paused but when he didn't speak Jo began to talk.

"They passed it off as a slip of the tongue anyway," she laughed, "but we're your close friends Carlos, we know better."

The memory began to take shape in the Latino's mind, and when the conversation he'd had with the Jennifers came back into sharp clarity he inwardly cursed his stupidity.

"They told you about that did they?"

"Yeah," said Lucy, taking a seat next to Carlos, "but we have reason to believe that it wasn't a slip of the tongue at all, even if you hadn't meant to say it."

"What do you mean?" Carlos demanded, trying his best to sound casual.

"Well it wasn't only that that tipped us off," said Camille, "it started when you first asked me about Logan and at first I thought it was only out of genuine concern, but then as I watched it seemed to grow into something more than that. You didn't just want to get close to Logan because you were concerned about him, there was something more wasn't there?"

Carlos struggled to feign ignorance; his heart was hammering loudly in his chest and he could feel his palms begin to grow clammy. He didn't dare speak, he couldn't risk his voice betraying him.

"And that time you went over with James to speak with him at Lunch, and how you failed a math test, just for him," said Lucy.

"Sure I gave you a little nudge in those general directions," admitted Camille with a shrug, "but you were just so eager, so willing to do it."

"And sometimes I've caught you looking at him," said Jo, "and you've just had that look in your eye, that blissful, contented look."

"So what are you saying?" Asked Carlos after a few moments of silence.

"We're saying," said Camille with a smile, "that you like Logan Mitchell."

* * *

For Logan the day at school had been relatively okay, for the most part. He'd managed to mostly avoid Kendall, he hadn't received any other mysterious love letters, the worst he'd received from people throughout the day were dirty looks, he'd spent lunch with the people he'd guessed he could now consider friends, with the exception of Kendall, and Carlos and himself had even managed to tunnel through nearly half of their media assignment even if Carlos had been acting a bit odd. As the brunette followed the sidewalk from school and towards his home he tried to concentrate on these thoughts, he was dreading the idea of stepping through the front door to face his father. The double storey house with its black slate roof and white timber walls came into view all too quickly, Logan taking in deep breaths as he tried to calm himself.

The house seemed silent when Logan stepped inside, the door squealing as he closed it behind him. He crept up the stairs and into his room, setting down his schoolbag as he looked around the untouched space.

"You're back."

Logan spun around, his eyes growing wide when he saw his father, who was standing in the doorway.

"W-where's mum?" He stuttered, taking small steps back as he tried to make the distance between his father and himself as large as the room would allow.

"She had to go out, something for work."

He took a few steps into the room, looking around just as Logan had done only moments ago.

"I hoped you'd gone for good," he took another step forward, smiling as Logan flinched, "but you never seem to learn. I guess I'm just going to have to teach you then."

"W-what are you g-going to do?" Logan's back was pressed against the far wall; the brunette watching helplessly as his father continued to close the distance between them.

"I'm going to teach you," he smiled, extracting something from the pocket of his jeans. Logan cried out, cringing when the light caught the glinting metal of the blade.

"Don't think I don't notice those cuts of yours," he said, creeping forward until they were only inches apart.

"I thought maybe I could add some to your collection."

He grabbed Logan's arm and forced up the sleeve of his cardigan, revealing the long, thin scars that littered his milky pale skin.

The brunette struggled and pulled but he couldn't escape from his father grip. Tears began to fall as he felt the cold of the metal against his bare skin.

"D-dad, p-please don't," Logan pleaded as silent sobs forced their way up his throat, "please don't."

His father only grinned, pressing the blade down.

Just as he felt the sting of the knife breaking his skin Logan acted on instinct, everything that happened next passing in a teary blur. With his eyes screwed up tight Logan let out a blind kick, with all his power behind it. The strangled wheeze his father let out as he dropped the knife let Logan know he'd hit the right place. The brunette wrenched away from his father's grip and stumbled out into the hall, throwing himself down the stairs and out the door. Tears streamed down Logan's face as he ran, his arm throbbing from the place his father had cut him. His mind was a cloud of pain and grief so all he did was run. He ran as fast he could, not daring to stop.

He just needed to get away.

* * *

**:( I feel so terrible for what I essentially did to Logan, but don't worry, it's mostly uphill from here, so don't hate on me, hate Logan's father with a fiery passion!  
****And here's some virtual presents and hugs for the holidays, you guys are all amazing! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the late update; I'm awfully good at procrastinating.  
****I did promise longer chapters, and this one is longer but not by that much; I didn't want to just babble on, but I endeavour to continue to make each chapter longer than the last :)  
****Now this chapter, and the next one will be the bottom of the barrel for Logan, this is the worst it gets, so just a warning; I know sometimes the angst can get a little tedious.  
Also, thank you to all my lovely reviewers, I don't say it often enough, you're all so amazing and brilliant and motivating, so thank you :) **

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

Carlos awoke to the sound of shrill buzzing. He groaned in irritation, feeling around his bedside table until he managed to switch the alarm off. Clambering out of bed, the Latino stumbled into the bathroom and went about getting himself ready for school. Ten minutes later he found himself down in the kitchen, dressed in his usual jeans and sweater. He went to go about his daily breakfast ritual, lathering a bagel in the sweetest conserve he could possibly find but something stopped him; something made him pause as he rummaged through the pantry. The Latino felt a pang from deep within his stomach. A pang of anxiety that slowly began to encompass his being until it was all he could think about; not even food seemed to matter.

Something felt wrong; something was wrong.

Carlos ended up skipping breakfast, instead jumping into his car to get to school early; for the first time in his life. When he arrived Camille and Lucy were already there, loitering outside the school's entrance, deep in what looked to be quite a secretive conversation.

"Camille seriously, stop worrying yourself, everything will be absolutely fine, just wait, it'll be fine."

The two girls fell silent when Carlos joined the them, Lucy managing a thin smile while Camille looked totally distracted.

"What's wrong?" Asked the Latino, as he stared at Camille with worry; the girl was completely blanched; she looked sick.

It was Lucy who gave him an answer; "she's worried, but I think she should probably tell you what's bothering her so much."

Camille turned to look at the Latino with a weak smile.

"Lucy's right, its probably nothing important, I'm just overreacting is all."

Despite the girl's assurances Carlos was still curious.

"Well you know yesterday, when Lucy, Jo and I tried to get you to admit to liking Logan, which we know is true by the way."

The Latino only nodded his head in acknowledgement. The three girls had never actually gotten Carlos to say he'd liked Logan, he'd managed to keep those words from their ears, but he guessed he must have been pretty obvious about the whole thing; otherwise they never would have questioned him in the first place.

"Yeah, well I managed to get Logan's number off him so I could text him later that afternoon, you know, to find out exactly what he thought about you, but when I texted him hen never replied."

The pang of anxiety made a return, sending butterflies spiralling up into the Latino's stomach. That didn't sound like Logan. Carlos had never texted him but he knew Logan would never intentionally ignore someone, it just didn't seem like something he would do; especially to Camille; who'd been so nice to him.

"I-I'm just worried about him," she said with a frown, "I was afraid…"

Carlos didn't need her to continue; he knew exactly what she meant. Ever since the Latino had begun hanging around the small brunette he had slowly watched him get better and better, start smiling more, laughing; and Carlos had hoped that maybe his arms would never see another livid, red slash again. But Camille's words had set sirens off in his head; he didn't want to believe it, not after how good everything seemed to be getting. He couldn't ignore that pang though, it was getting stronger and stronger every second; threating to consume him. Carlos didn't know what to do; he didn't even know where the boy lived. He was tempted to slap himself. How was he supposed to make sure that the person he felt more strongly about than anything else in the world was okay?

* * *

Logan tried crying again but the tears wouldn't come; even though the pain of it all was still raw. The cut itself had long ago healed, his father had only managed a shallow one, but it had still broken the brunette in ways he couldn't describe. He felt weak and inferior, pathetic and useless, hated and forgotten. The silence of the old cabin was his only companion. He'd stumbled across the building after about an hour or two of blindly running through the woods on the edge of town. In total Logan had wandered till daybreak, not once stopping; wanting to put as much space between himself and everything as possible. For now, the abandoned cabin sufficed.

Logan had managed to dredge up some loose sheets of paper and a pen from the bowels of the abandoned furniture; they sat on a rotted out desk that was pushed up against one of the mildewed walls; ready and waiting. Logan knew what he wanted, needed to do. He'd reached the end of his road; he couldn't go on any longer. He glanced up at the noose that hung from one of the many rafters, the threadbare rope swinging ominously; waiting for Logan to seal his fate as he ponded what he'd write on that sheet of paper. He'd hung it up there only twenty minutes before; the urge to simply not bother with the letter and be done with it growing with each passing minute.

_I'm sorry._

The brunette stared at the words, scribbling them out moments later. It didn't sound right; nothing that came bubbling to the forefront of his mind sounded right. He let out a bitter laugh; he was worrying about how the letter would sound? He realised what an idiotic notion that was; what did it matter? He was going to end up dead no matter how it sounded. The brunette cast his mind back to the night he'd been curled up on the floor, having only been mere inches away from dashing himself against the pavement below his window. He recollected how something inside him had stopped him, just at the last moment from taking the plunge, stopping him with the temptation of a possible future with Carlos Garcia.

Tears had begun to fall again, staining his cheeks with a salty warmth, he only wiped them away with the back of his hand, taking in a deep breath. It seemed that life bared a special kind of hatred for Logan Mitchell; it had a funny way of making everything seem like it was looking up to only plunge back down into the darkest ravines moments later. That was the whole problem; Carlos Garcia didn't seem like a good enough reason for Logan to stick around anymore, the negatives outweighed the positive threefold. Sure his friendship with Carlos had become something the brunette had never dared to imagine but the problems surrounding his father, Kendall, his 'secret admirer' and his other peers had only escalated. Life was always waiting with a mallet, to pummel Logan back into the dark reaches he tried so hard to stay out of; like that was his place, like he didn't belong anywhere else. It was an analogy that the brunette was starting to believe was true.

He glanced down at his watch; just about eight-thirty, he knew most students would have arrived at school by now. He wondered how long it would take people to notice that he was missing; as far as the brunette could recall he'd never missed a single day of school. He pondered about whether Carlos or Camille or maybe even Jo or Lucy would be worried when they realised he wasn't present; a part of him liked to think they would. Maybe Carlos would even come looking for him, maybe he'd turn the whole town upside down in a fevered search. It was a nice, fanciful thought; the only one that kept the pen Logan had poised in his hand from the page; the only thought that delayed the delicate brunette from stepping into that noose that swayed lightly from the rafters; just waiting to claim the teen's life and cast him into a world darker than he'd ever thought was possible.

* * *

_Where the hell is Logan? Where in the fucking seven hells is Logan?_

The thoughts were the only ones that occupied Carlos' thoughts for the entire morning as he proceeded through his usual Wednesday classes. The unnatural pang persisted within his stomach, leaving him with only an impending sense of dread that hung over the Latino like a storm cloud. It just didn't seem within the nature of the brunette to miss school; for anything, not for sickness, not even for injury. Carlos hated to think what was keeping him from the grounds. The text Camille had told him about that morning only made everything seem so much worse, like somebody was going to find Logan's broken body in a muddy ditch somewhere. Camille, Lucy and Jo had done their best to console him; assuring him that Logan would be at school the next day, and that he was just worrying about nothing; but that pang in his stomach seemed to tell him otherwise. The Latino knew that Logan could be in any number of situations right at this very moment and it frustrated him to know that there was absolutely nothing he could do to help him. The Latino carried that frustration with him as he stormed into the lunch hall, taking his place at his usual table and ignoring all the waves, smiles and greetings directed towards him, not even bothering to line up for any food.

A moment later James joined him.

"Hey."

The Latino was genuinely surprised by the acknowledgment; the two friends hadn't been speaking much of late; James only ever having to look at Carlos when absolutely necessary.

"Hey," he said back with a weak smile, digging his nails into the soft flesh of his palms, trying to do his best to distract himself from the continuingly distressing thoughts about Logan.

"You feeling okay?" James asked, staring at his shorter friend evenly.

Carlos nodded, dropping his gaze to the scored surface of the table.

"Just worried, you know?"

The taller boy nodded, turning to look as Kendall, accompanied by Jo and Camille took their places at the table. All three of them had varying degrees of solemn pasted over their features, Lucy looking the same when she joined them moments later. They had all told one another not to worry about their newfound friend, but the Latino's concern was infectious.

"He's okay, right?" Asked Jo, looking around at her friends as she picked at the food on the lunch tray before her, "I mean, he's probably just sick or something, right?"

The all nodded and mumbled in agreement, a weak solace at best. Carlos reflected on how Camille, James and himself only really knew about Logan's, condition, for lack of a better term and yet the others showed just as much, if not more concern even though to them he was only a shy boy who was probably just sick. Camille stood abruptly, asking James and Carlos if she could talk to them for a moment. She drew them out of earshot of the others, waiting a few moments before finally speaking in a hushed voice.

"You don't think he's gone and done something…" she took a moment to search the appropriate word, "regretful?"

It was the question that all three of them had been petrified of asking, because what if it was true? What were they supposed to do then?

"I-I…" Carlos couldn't muster enough energy to even form an answer; the question had shattered his entire resolve. James only stood, shaking his head furiously before turning away from them, disappearing from the cafeteria with swift steps. Camille turned to Carlos with pleading eyes,

"I'm scared Carlos, I'm scared for him."

It was all the Latino could do to take her into an embrace.

"I am too Camille," he whispered into her ear soothingly, "I'm scared too."

* * *

The air was cold, a heavy mist cloaking the trees and rocks, Logan's footfalls muffled as he wandered through the dense maze. Something had drawn him outside; something had told him that if he was really going to go through with all of it then the least he could do was end it with a clear, calm mind. He drew in long, deep breaths, letting himself soak in the cold. The brunette treaded past clumps of wilting wildflowers, allowing himself to lose sight of the cabin, he'd eventually find his way back; after all, he figured there wasn't really any rush. Eventually he came to a forded brook, the shimmering water weaving its way around rounded, black river stones that shone in the dull light of the overcast day. Logan collapsed on the carpet of rotting leaves by the stream's bank, staring out into the disorienting wilderness. At least here he knew he was safe from all the ghouls that sought after him at home and at school with every waking moment. The woods acted as a sort of asylum; a safe-haven in which he was going to die. The brunette couldn't help but smirk at the irony of it all.

He thought back to the day his father had first began to abuse him; the day he'd come out to his parents. Clear as day, Logan could visualise how his father had become stock-still, jaw clenching and unclenching, hands curling into veined fists. The brunette had thought that he was going to be punched right there and then but of course his father had the guts to only throw abuse of the verbal kind at his son.

"Good job, dad," he whispered into the stillness and quiet, "I don't think you'll ever realise just how much of this is your fault."

Logan realised there were a lot of people he could blame for what he was planning to do to himself; he could list the names of many people who'd helped push him along, but he knew it wasn't really their fault. It was his fault; he was too weak to cope with everything dished out to him, too fragile, just like porcelain, ready to shatter at the slightest impact. The brunette stood, planning to head back to the cabin; he knew this was his fault, and that he was too weak; that everything that had gone wrong with his life was his problem, but it didn't matter so much anymore; it wouldn't be his problem for very much longer.

* * *

Kendall sat under one of the school's many oak trees that were situated around the grounds, waiting for the rest of his friends to arrive. He glanced down at his watch, wondering how long this 'emergency meeting' was going to take; he had more important places to be. Within minutes the others arrived; James and Carlos, Lucy and Camille, and finally Jo, who took a seat next to him. The blonde just rolled his eyes; when would she get the picture? He wasn't interested; not in a million years. Camille was the first to speak; her voice weak, shaky.

"I thought that maybe we should all talk about Logan."

Kendall inwardly groaned, why were they all so worried about the kid, he was far too in love with Carlos to do anything stupid; he was probably at home racing through the exam preparation Kendall had demanded by Friday.

"Although I guess none of us really knew him very well," Camille said, clearing her throat, "he was our friend, or at least starting to become our friend."

Kendall saw Lucy and Carlos nod in agreement, also catching Jo staring at him from the corner of his eye.

"So I know we're all worried," she continued, "it doesn't seem like Logan to skip school, to ignore messages."

Camille took a deep breath before continuing, "Logan isn't exactly in a stable condition at the moment," she said, eyes flickering between each group member,

"he's not in a good frame of mind, if you understand what I mean."

The blonde saw Jo and Lucy's faces light up in dark realisation.

"That's why I've been trying so hard to make sure he's okay," Camille stated, "and that's why I called you all here. I want all of you to see if you and can try and get into contact with Logan, just to make sure he's okay; I'm sure we all want to make sure he's okay."

Camille continued to speak but Kendall tuned out, catching Jo sneaking glances at him again. Kendall was tempted to turn and give her one in the nose; she was so frustrating. How many advances would he have to politely decline before she got the message? The blonde really didn't understand why she couldn't comprehend that she would never be with him. He turned to cast a sideways glance of his own over at James, who was staring at Camille intently, listening to every word she spoke. He was the reason he and Jo would never be together; Kendall was only interested in the tall, hunky brunette that sat near him, seemingly oblivious to the shorter blonde that kept sneaking looks at him. In that sense, Kendall guessed that Jo and himself held some common ground; they were both hopelessly infatuated with people who just simply weren't interested; their own hearts set on somebody else.

Kendall had never tried anything on James; to be frank he was too petrified to even consider it; but he knew that James was interested in somebody else. Kendall had an eye for those kinds of things; he could always tell what people felt about each other, and he knew exactly how James felt about Logan Mitchell. That's what really gave the blonde fuel to hate the small brunette; to have blackmailed him like he did. Here was somebody as amazing as James Diamond, completely in love with him, and yet Logan would chase after a half-wit like Carlos; Kendall didn't understand how any sane person could do that.

"So we're all agreed then?" Asked Camille to her friends at large, "we'll all meet back here tomorrow morning to exchange anything we may have found out, and if nothing comes up or if Logan hasn't come back to school then maybe we'll think about calling someone."

Everyone muttered their agreements, getting to their feet and heading back to the car park; Kendall could see they were all eager to be getting home, away from the depressing subject that was Logan Mitchell. As Kendall got into his car and started the engine he hoped that if Logan wasn't at home, trying his best to fulfil the blonde's wishes, that wherever he was, for whatever reason that he would never, ever come back.

* * *

James stormed into his house; greeted by nothing but cold silence. His parents were out, working as usual, and like every afternoon he was left on his own; to do what he could find to pass the time. But that fact didn't seem important right now; his mind completely occupied by thoughts of Logan. The tall boy wanted to ram his head into a wall; to burrow into the deepest hole he could find and rot there. He knew he never should have done what he'd did; leaving that note in Logan's locker; he'd knew it'd been a cowardly thing to do, he should have told Logan himself. Some part of him thought that if he'd done that, actually confessed his feelings to Logan in person, then maybe he would've come to school, that maybe James could have stopped whatever terrible things were going on in the small brunette's mind.

He flung his backpack on the floor on his bedroom, collapsing onto his meticulously made bed. James wallowed in silence for a few moments, his pity party interrupted swiftly by a tentative knock on his door.

"James, are you okay, I heard you slamming the doors."

James mumbled to himself before answering, "just go away Beth, I'm fine."

Much to the tall boy's dismay, the door opened, revealing a sizable woman of around forty who wore a sad smile and greying hair pulled back in a tight bun.

"What's wrong?" She asked, leaning against the doorframe, duster in hand, "you're upset."

James rolled his eyes and buried his face in a pillow.

"Don't you have a job to do Beth? How have you not been fired yet?"

The woman only laughed, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Is it about that boy, Logan?"

James groaned loudly, why did he share anything with this woman?

"I don't want to talk about it, leave me alone."

Beth chuckled, getting back to her feet, "okay, okay but before I go I just want to say that I don't think you have anything to worry about, you're an attractive boy James, Logan would be silly not to want to be with you."

Beth shut the door quietly behind her, leaving James to recommence his private party. Somehow what she had said had made the tall boy feel even worse. Why had he been worried in the first place? Why had he doubted himself? James knew he was better than Carlos, more intellectual; he understood Logan better. He knew that if he'd had the confidence to just tell the petite boy then none of this would have ever happened; Logan would had been his and they wouldn't all be facing this problem right now.

"Logan could have been mine," the whisper was a wistful one, laced with frustration.

He just hoped Logan was okay.

* * *

**Yay, stuff happened :)  
****I hope that was up to scratch, I quite enjoyed writing it.  
****Also, get excited for major Carganess next chapter, I think you guys will like what I have in store. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the delayed update, I'd like to say that things got a little hectic in the last few days, but that isn't true, I just got distracted...  
I'd like to give a big thank you to Corey from UndefinedBrothers, who actually motivated me to get this written a lot faster than I otherwise would have, he is quite the motivational one :)  
Also, I'd like to thank Haoi, who pointed out a couple of grammatical issues and a certain inconsistency, it keeps me on my feet, so thanks :)  
And lastly, if any of you are fans of the Hunger Games then I suggest you should check out a fanfiction called ****Before the Bird was a Bear: The 25th Hunger Games, by unubear, it's brilliant! **

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

"And all you need to do is-" Mrs Martin looked up from the sheet of geometry problems to find Carlos staring off blankly into space.

"Carlos are you even listening?"

At the sound of his name the Latino shook his head distractedly, giving his teacher an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I'm just sort of distracted."

She sighed, pushing her wire-rimmed spectacles up the bridge of her nose.

"Carlos, you need to learn this if you're ever going to pass the finals, which, may I remind you, are in less than two weeks!"

He nodded his head in understanding, trying his best to listen to what the aged teacher was trying to explain. The Latino's eyes began to rove back over the contents of the empty classroom, eyes settling on a pair of posters displaying factorials at the back of the room.

"Carlos…? Carlos! Please, pay attention!"

He managed to comply to Mrs Martin's wishes for about five minutes before his dark eyes wandered over to glance at the clock that sat on the wall; he still had another twenty minutes of this; Carlos didn't think he'd be able to cope. He'd be lying if he said he was trying to pay attention, but the Latino knew he wouldn't be able to focus even if he'd tried. Logan plagued his thoughts, the meek brunette taking up complete residence in his mind, Carlos was terrified for him. He'd stolen Logan's number from Camille and had left message upon message for him, but the Latino was yet to receive an answer. He just wanted to know that Logan was okay; that the boy was merely out of town on a family emergency or that he had just come down with the flu.

"Carlos, I think that'll be enough for today, you don't seem to be able to focus."

The aforementioned gave his math teacher a relieved smile, "really? I can go?"

Mrs Martin heaved another sigh, "yes Carlos, I'll see you in class tomorrow."

The Latino jumped from his seat, sparing the elderly math teacher a wave before ducking out of the classroom.

The halls were more or less empty, his footsteps resounding loudly into the hush that permeated throughout the building. Nearing the entrance, Carlos pulled his phone from the depths of his jean pocket, scrolling through his contacts until he reached the name he was looking for. He knew he shouldn't; he'd rung enough times, he'd left enough messages; but the Latino couldn't help it, what was the harm in trying once more?

Carlos pressed the phone to his ear as he pushed through the doors and into the chill of the evening, listening intently as it rang.

"Come on Logie, pickup, pickup, I need to know you're okay."

By the time he'd reached his car the call gone to voicemail.

"_Hey, this is Logan I-"_

Carlos hung up, stuffing the phone back into his pocket, anger flooding his being. Why wouldn't Logan pick up? Where could he possibly be?

Turning the ignition, Carlos knew he couldn't go home, not like this; he needed to see Logan. Turning out onto the road, the Latino headed towards the home of the only person he knew who could possibly help.

* * *

"James, Carlos is here to see you."

Beth stood by his open bedroom door, "he's looking pretty agitated."

James raised an eyebrow in question but the robust woman just shrugged, bustling off to continue with her work. The tall brunette followed Beth from the bedroom and then went his separate way down the staircase and into the entry hall.

"Hey," said James by way of greeting, his tone distant.

"James," began Carlos, wasting no time, "I need a favour from you."

James backed up a few steps, fixing the shorter boy with a scrutinizing look.

"Why should I help you?" He asked coldly.

The Latino sighed, crossing his arms over his broad chest, "look James, I get you're angry at me and if you don't want to tell me why then that's your call, but this isn't about me, this is about Logan."

"Logan?"

James was caught off guard by the statement, what did Carlos think James could help with concerning Logan?

"Well yeah," said the Latino, taking a seat on one of the plush armchairs that sat in the timber floored room. "You're like the second smartest person I know, second to Logan of course, and I came up with an idea, it might be a bit far-fetched but I think I might have a way to find Logan, and if it's possible then I think you'll be the only one who could do it."

James didn't offer anything in reply, only waiting for the Latino to elaborate.

"Well I thought that maybe you could get the location of Logan's mobile phone, on the computer or whatever, which would hopefully lead us to him…"

Carlos looked hopeful as he spoke, looking up at James with large, endearing eyes. The taller brunette thought it over for a moment, it was certainly possible, he knew that for a certainty, but he didn't want to help Carlos find Logan; he didn't want the Latino to be the hero in all this. James wished more than anything that he could be the saviour, the one that Logan needed.

"James?"

The taller boy shook himself from his reverie, dropping down into the chair next to Carlos. This wasn't about him, this was about Logan, and it was about keeping Logan safe. Sighing, James turned to look into the Latino's chocolate eyes.

"I can do it, just give me his number."

Carlos' face positively lit up, grin revealing his gleaming white teeth.

"Thank you so much!"

As the two stood up Carlos barrelled James into a hug, "I won't forget this James, you have no idea how much this means to me."

"Oh, but I think I do…" Muttered James, quiet enough so he was sure the Latino wouldn't hear.

* * *

"Well it's about that time," Logan allowed himself a thin smile as he spoke the words aloud, staring up at the noose that hung bleakly from the rafters. A light rain had begun to patter against the cabin's tin roof, the brunette couldn't help but think of how fitting it all was; the sky weeping for him.

_The sky will be the only one to weep though._

The thought was like a hot poker through the chest, the pain surging this his entire being; but he thought it to be true all the same. Logan wouldn't allow himself to think that Carlos was going to miss him; the brunette was done with stalling; nobody was coming, nobody cared, nobody was even fazed. He pulled a chair underneath the noose, it would all be over quickly enough. The rain intensified, the drops beginning to pound against the cabin like a drum. To Logan it sounded as if the rain was now spurring him on, eagerly awaiting the moment he'd step up onto that chair. He couldn't help but feel apprehensive, his heart pounding rapidly against his chest, he wondered what it would be like to no longer feel that heartbeat, to feel nothing at all; he imagined it would be peaceful, blissful even. Logan stared around at the contents of the cabin for a moment, was this all his life had simmered down to? The brunette remembered when he was younger, how he had once had aspirations of becoming a doctor, to save people's lives. How was he supposed to do that if he couldn't even save his own? Logan sighed, it was almost unbelievable how downhill his life had gone in the past few years, how a simple confidence in his parents had twisted into this, into an abandoned cabin, a broken boy and a noose. Tear began to fall, and with them soft curses that were muttered silently. Logan had promised himself he wouldn't cry; he was done with being weak, he promised himself he wouldn't be scared. He wondered how much longer he'd have to stand here before he gathered enough courage to step onto that rickety chair.

* * *

"Thanks James!" Carlos shouted as he sprinted from the tall boy's house and towards his car. A light rain had begun to fall, collecting in shallow puddles along the concrete, the Latino skirting around their edges in a desperate attempt to not soak his shoes. He was excited, more than excited, he was ecstatic. James, in about twenty minutes had managed to locate Logan's mobile phone, it was out on the edge of town, within the woods the hugged its perimeters. Throwing himself into the car, Carlos switched on the ignition and sped off in the direction specified by James' map. The tall brunette had asked if he could join Carlos, but the Latino had been insistent on going alone; James hadn't pushed the matter. Carlos had told him to merely call the others, to tell them that everything was fine and that they'd found Logan.

Carlos reached the edge of town in about half an hour, driving slowly until he came across a dirt track that wound its way into the darkening woods. The track was rocky and unsealed, the Latino knew his car wouldn't have a chance of navigating it. Sighing, Carlos parked it, stepping out into the rain that had now begun to fall with more vigour.

With minutes he was soaked to the bone, stumbling over jutting roots and loose rocks every few steps. Rain beat down against bare tree branches, lashing at the Latino's face every chance it got. The lingering light of dusk was quickly ebbing away into darkness and Carlos knew that if he didn't find where the brunette was soon, he too would be lost.

Luckily, after scaling a small but steep rise turned to mud by the heavy rains, Carlos caught sight of a dim, warm light in the distance, one that shone through the twisted branches and coiling stands of brush, and one that filled the Latino with an earnest hope. He reached its source swiftly, breaking out of the trees and coming face to face with an old, derelict cabin. The timber slats were covered in moss, the weak light that cascaded from the windows swallowed up by the gloom of the night. Carlos' joints were aching, he was half blinded by the heavy drops that ran down his face, but he knew this must be where Logan was; it just had to be. The Latino skirted around the building, pressing his face up against the first grimy window he came across to peer inside. What he saw almost stopped his heart.

A noose swung from the exposed roof rafters, a chair standing directly beneath it. The entire scene was illuminated by a gas lantern; the light casting ghostly shadows of Logan's blanched features as he climbed unsteadily onto the chair. Carlos sprung into action, dashing around the building's perimeter until he located the door.

"Logan!" He shouted over the thunderous beat of the rain, pounding his first against the brittle wood, "Logan!"

After receiving no reply Carlos took two steps back and barrelled into it with all his weight. The door gave a splintering groan and shuddered, collapsing inwards as the Latino stumbled in afterwards. The brunette's eyes grew wide, Carlos freezing the moment he saw what position Logan was in. The noose was looped around his neck, the chair teetering dangerously beneath his feet.

"I'm sorry," he croaked.

At first Carlos didn't understand what the boy meant, but it all became clear when the chair disappeared from under him. The threadbare rope grew taut, Logan's breath cutting off with gurgled gasps. For a few moments the Latino was completely paralysed with terror, legs refusing to move as he watched Logan flail helplessly. Cogs slowly turned in his head, bringing his limbs back under control and causing Carlos to screech and race forward, gathering Logan's suspended weight in his arms and lifting him up, relieving the pressure on the brunette's neck. Tears streamed down the Latino's face as he jerkily pulled Logan from the grip of the noose, collapsing upon the floor with the petite brunette on top of him. Logan let out a pained moan, burying his head in Carlos' soaked shirt as sobs wracked his body. The Latino watched as grotesquely purple bruises blossomed along the brunette's neck, stark against the pallor of his skin. Carlos simply latched onto Logan, holding the brunette against his chest as hard as he could, listening to his heart wrenching cries.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of lying on the floor in each other's arms, Logan spoke.

"I-I'm so s-sorry," he sputtered, breath hitching.

"I-I…" His speech dissolved back down into strangled cries, head falling back into Carlos' now damp shirt.

The Latino hushed Logan, squeezing the brunette's delicate frame even tighter.

"It's okay, everything's okay, I'm here, you're here, everything is going to be okay."

The words seemed to mollify the boy, Carlos watching as his sobs begun to subside. The Latino himself was a maelstrom of emotion, but he found tears wouldn't come, neither would anger, nor guilt. He was just so grateful that Logan was in his arms, he didn't ever want to let go.

"I-I couldn't handle it anymore," whispered Logan, after a time, "I didn't know what else to do."

Carlos didn't speak, simply listened, helping the brunette to his feet as he continued to speak in a trembling voice.

"I felt so alone, like everybody was against me. I thought it would be easier this way, I didn't want to have to deal with the pain anymore, and everything was getting to be too much. I'm sorry I wasn't stronger."

Carlos stared into the brunette's large, swollen chocolate eyes, wondering just how much pain and anguish he held behind them.

"It's okay," the Latino finally said, in the softest voice he could, "it's all okay."

He took the brunette in another embrace, this one more comforting, softer, Logan relishing in the feel of the muscled arms that encircled him.

"You don't need to be alone anymore," Carlos whispered, pulling away from Logan to once again stare into his eyes, "I don't want you to have to face anything alone again. I want to be by your side, with you at every step, I want us to be together."

The brunette only stared back at Carlos, as if he didn't comprehend what had been said.

"Y-you want t-to be w-with me?" He stuttered, sounding completely unsure of himself.

Carlos indulged himself in a thin-lipped smile, nodding.

"Always," he whispered, ever so slightly leaning in closer to Logan. The brunette seemed to respond to the minute movement, mirroring Carlos. The Latino hesitantly placed his lips upon Logan's, the two quickly falling into the kiss. Carlos collected Logan up in his arms again, the brunette melting at his touch. Logan's hands fluttered up to lock around the Latino's neck, pushing himself flush against Carlos' body. The kiss quickly deepened, Logan desperately keeping their lips locked, afraid of letting it come to an end. They finally broke apart for air, the two panting as they stared at one another.

"Promise?" Asked Logan with a hopeful look in his eye.

"Promise," replied Carlos with a smile, bringing his lips up to once again meet Logan's.

* * *

Carlos watched as Logan mumbled from his place on the mildewed sofa, tossing his head in the midst of sleep. Carlos, as soon as the exhausted brunette had fallen asleep, had called all his friends, assuring them that he'd found Logan and that he was absolutely fine, he didn't want them worrying. The bruises that adorned the pale skin of Logan's neck had deepened to a near black, the sight made Carlos think about just how close he'd come to losing Logan, how, if he'd gotten lost, or if he'd hadn't come up with the idea of asking James about the mobile, that it would have been too late. The Latino shuddered at the thought, Carlos was just glad that everything had worked out for the most part; Logan was alive and safe and now he had the Latino to fall back on, they could work through everything together.

The rain had lightened, barely audible in the late night, leaving only a sullen chill that had soaked deep into the cabin as a result of Carlos having knocked the door down. As Logan slept the Latino inspected the contents of the dilapidated lodge, poking around rotted drawers, mildewed curtains and warped floorboards, trying his best to keep himself occupied. Unlike Logan, who slumbered contentedly on the sunken couch, sleep wouldn't come to Carlos, it eluded him not matter how tightly he screwed his eyes shut or how clear he tried to make his mind. Too much had happened, he'd come too close to losing the one person he cared the most about; in that sense Carlos was glad he didn't feel the slightest bit drowsy, he knew that nightmares were waiting in the dark. As the Latino crossed over to the desk his eye was caught by a page crammed with scrawling letters and words, he knew immediately who'd penned it, and the idea of what was written in that ink had a lump forming in Carlos' throat. He reached for it with a shaky hand, knowing that his curiosity would only be quelled when he read it.

_Whoever is reading this, well you must by now realise I'm dead. I thought for a long time about what I would put in this note but I don't really have that much to say. I guess at least some of you will be wondering why I did it, well for any who care I'll be glad to share. Everything just became too much, I couldn't deal with it, I wasn't 'strong' enough, couldn't pick myself up off the ground anymore, so I took the easy way out. I know nobody will miss me, so I guess I don't really have any goodbyes, but I do have a few things to say to just a few people. First off, dad, I hope you'll be finally pleased by my choice, at least this way I can stop disappointing you and mum, I'm sorry I could never live up to your expectations. Secondly, to my classmates, isn't it funny how the quietest of people can hold the worst pain? Not that any of you made it any easier. You all went about your days like I wasn't there, like I didn't exist, like in your eyes, I was already dead. Some days I just wanted nothing more than somebody to talk to, somebody who acknowledged me, hell I would have preferred if you'd bullied me, at least that way I would be noticed. Hope you guys don't miss me too much._

Lastly, to Carlos-

A solitary tear fell from the Latino's chocolate eyes and onto the page, quickly staining the thin paper and blotching the ink. Carlos was trembling with emotion, legs quaking unsteadily; he knew if he so much as took a step that he'd fall to the floor, let that harrowing sorrow wash over him. He didn't know if he could continue, reading the note was like experiencing Logan's pain first hand, the Latino thought he finally understood just how alone and weak Logan felt, and it was terrible. With a fluttering heart and teary eyes Carlos read on, determined to see the note through to the end.

_Thank you for everything, thank you for being there in class, for speaking to me, for becoming the closest thing I've ever had to a friend. You helped me hang on, to stick around longer than I had planned, you showed me, for a time, that life was worth living. For that I can't tell you just how grateful I am, you were the light in the darkness I'd been trapped in for such a long time. But in the end darkness seemed to have prevailed, there's no happy ending for me. I just want you to know that this wasn't your fault, this was all me, I just wasn't strong enough to keep pushing on, so please, don't blame yourself. I love you Carlos, thank you for making me smile when no one else could, thank you for brightening my day when I was sure I'd never see the sun again. Thank you for being you, thank you for showing me what it was to love._

The page slipped from the Latino's grip, flitting down to the floor as he stood stock still, tears cascading from his eyes. His heart felt beaten and broken, he never realised just how much he meant to the small brunette. He stumbled over to the sofa, falling to his knees as he threaded his wiry arms around Logan's slim waist. The brunette awoke with a jolt, eyes widening as he noticed the tears falling from Carlos' eyes, the broken look he held within them.

"Carlos, what's wrong?" He asked, his brow furrowing with concern.

The Latino buried his head in the crook of Logan's neck, letting out a cry. The brunette hugged him back hesitantly, unsure of what to say. But Carlos spoke before Logan could think of anything, his words tremulous.

"I-I love you too Logan."

* * *

Morning broke with a clear sky, the two sleeping figures bathed in a yellow light that gushed in from a nearby window. Carlos stirred, almost toppling off the edge of the sofa as he groggily sat up. Logan lay next to him, pushed up against the couch back, murmuring softly every so often. Pulling his phone from his jean pocket, Carlos saw that it was nearing seven-thirty, and that it was Thursday. He sighed, turning to the brunette's sleeping form, gently shaking him awake.

"Logan, it's Thursday, that means school, did you want to go to school? I completely understand if you don't…"

The brunette gave a sleepy smile, nodding his head, "I'll go to school, as long as you come with me."

Carlos nodded happily, climbing to his feet, "well then, we better get ready."

Organising themselves only took around ten minutes, which was fortunate, because getting to school would take them a good forty minutes, not to mention the little stop off they'd have to make at the Latino's home once he'd had a closer inspection of his clothes. His jeans and sweatshirt were stained with mud and his sneakers were caked in charcoal coloured dirt, he was in need of a shower as well. As they set out from the cabin a thought occurred to Carlos, one that had him cursing he hadn't thought of before.

"Logan, have you had anything to eat or drink in the last few days?"

The brunette gave wry smile, "there was a stream nearby, and don't worry about me, I've gone longer without food."

Carlos went to say something but Logan took his hand in his own and squeezed it, "don't worry about me," he repeated. It took the two about ten minutes to locate the Latino's car, the cabin hadn't actually been that far from the road. The two climbed into it, the Latino switching on the ignition and turning to Logan.

"You ready?" He asked gently.

The brunette tried his best to give a sincere smile, "as ready as I'll ever be."

Carlos leaned in, placing a chaste kiss on Logan's lips, "don't worry, everything's okay."

* * *

**Hope you all liked it, leave some reviews, make me feel loved :)  
****From now on I'm going to try and update on a weekly basis, I feel bad because my updates have been a little jumpy, so hopefully, by next Tuesday, I should have the next chapter up. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Yeah, I know, I suck.  
I know I haven't updated in quite a while but I was caught up with another writing project, one that I needed to finish. But now that's done I can get back to this! (Yay!)  
So please don't hate me for my extended absence, I'd like to say I have an amazing chapter lined up for you guys but in all honesty I'm not at all happy with it, but I'll leave it up to you to decide.  
****Also feel free to send me threatening hate mail, that'll probably motivate me to get the next chapter up faster. **

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

"What am I going to say, how am I supposed to explain where I was?"

"Don't worry about it, we'll figure something out," said Carlos, as he stepped out into the school's car park.

"I don't think I can do this Carlos," said Logan, crossing his arms over his chest, refusing to follow suit.

The Latino sighed, walking around to the passenger door to open it and stare at the brunette.

"Come on Logie, everything will be fine."

Carlos tugged at the brunette's sweater, it was a little too big for him, having come from the Latino's wardrobe. Logan only shook his head, staring straight ahead and refusing to meet the Latino's eyes.

"I changed my mind, I don't want to be here."

Carlos frowned, grabbing hold of Logan's hands, "Logan, you have to trust me, I'll be there with you every second, you have nothing to worry about."

"But I left my bag at home and I have homework due and, I don't know…" Logan offered the frail excuse with a meek look at the Latino, eyes wide. Carlos shook his head, pulling the brunette from the car and locking it.

"We'll deal with everything as it comes, okay?"

Logan gave him an unsure nod, letting Carlos take his hand again.

"We're going to walk in there together, I'm not going to leave you, not today, not ever."

The brunette smiled, letting the Latino lead him towards the school entrance. People turned to watch the pair as they passed, teens with shocked looks on their faces craning their necks to try and get a glimpse of the couple's entwined hands. By the time they had actually gotten into the school building people were whispering to one another, eyes following the pair's every move. Logan was all too painfully aware of the scrutiny they were receiving, he was all too aware of the feel of the Latino's calloused hand intertwined with his, of the appalled and envious looks every second girl shot at Logan. Carlos himself seemed quite oblivious to the entire spectacle, happily leading Logan through the winding halls in what the brunette guessed must have been a fevered search for his friends. To Logan everything seemed so surreal, he was so sure he'd wake up any moment, back in that cabin, with the noose hanging from the dusty rafters. He never imagined Carlos Garcia of all people would be standing at his side, his hand held steadily in his own. It was all Logan could do to smile, he was scared that if he did anything more then the illusion would be shattered, and he'd awaken.

"Carlos! Logan!"

The squeal pierced the air like a knife would flesh, Camille throwing herself onto the pair. The grin she wore looked almost painful, her eyes glinting with glee and joy.

"I was so worried!" She said, scolding the two, "wait till the others see you two!"

It was then she noticed their joined hands. Logan swore she looked ready to faint. She stared down at their hands for a moment then back up to their faces, the look of bewilderment on her face was almost comical, her voice hesitant when she finally spoke.

"You guys…? You two? Like, together?"

Logan looked to the Latino who nodded at their friend. Camille squealed again, gathering them up into another hug. It was at that moment that James, followed by Lucy and Jo appeared, the tall brunette and hot-headed girl in the midst of bantering. Camille turned to them, beaming.

"Guess what guys," she said, staring at the three expectantly.

James was the first to notice Logan, a small smile gracing his features, "Logan's back," he said.

"And…?" Camille prompted. When nobody answered she stepped to the side to reveal Logan and Carlos' intertwined hands. Lucy and Jo had the same, almost mandatory reaction as Camille. But James' features became blanched, the tall brunette stumbling back a few steps.

"I need to go to the bathroom," he said, to no one in particular before rushing off. No one seemed to take much notice of his sudden departure; the three girls too busy fawning over the new couple.

"So how did it happen?" Asked Jo, more or less shaking with excitement.

"I don't know," shrugged Carlos, "it just kinda, you know, happened…"

The reply seemed to quell the girl's curiosity for the moment, the three of them subduing into something best described as an awed silence. Logan shook his head, he felt the day would be a long and interesting one.

* * *

"Okay, well I think we're finished."

The words shook Logan out of his reverie, the brunette looking over at Carlos who was staring intently at a computer screen, "is there anything else you wanted to add to it?" He asked, tilting his head to the side as he asked the question. The words the Latino spoke went straight over Logan's head, the brunette too busy being mesmerised by Carlos to actually listen to what he was saying. He couldn't believe it, sure, it hadn't even been a day and Carlos had never technically asked him out, but what the brunette was living right now was so much more than he had ever dared he'd have with the Latino. Somehow Logan thought he should be back in that cabin, hanging tautly from the noose, skin growing cold, eyes empty and vacant. The brunette knew he was still caught in that almost surreal state, reality hadn't exactly caught up yet, nothing had really even sunk in.

"Logan?"

His reverie was broken for a second time, a small smile breaking out on his features.

"No," he answered quietly, "I'm sure it's great."

"Well why don't you take a look?"

Logan complied, taking a seat next to the Latino. His eyes inspected the pictures that were displayed, each one taking his breath away in turn, the captions beneath them almost bringing tears to his eyes. The brunette had never expected Carlos to be such a good photographer as he had turned out to be, in fact he seemed pretty well schooled in all arty activities. Logan had been shown scripts written by the Latino for short films and comic strips that had him in fits of laughter, just because of how absurd they were. Logan had quickly come to learn that the Latino was so much more than just a pretty face. His favourite photo was one of the first Carlos had taken, a wild rose at the base of an ancient gnarled tree, it's once lividly coloured petals wilting and fading, a beauty reverting back into a hideous and ungainly creature. The caption below it never failed to break Logan's heart.

_Trying to push on with a withering heart._

Logan had no idea what it meant; Carlos had put it down as one of his own secrets, but it hurt the brunette every time he read it, what kind of pain was the Latino holding secret? Logan wouldn't have known by the constant radiant smiles Carlos wore and the hop he carried in his step, but somewhere behind those chocolate brown orbs pain brewed thunderous and volatile, the Latino was just good at keeping it hidden. The brunette had never broached the subject with him, he knew all too well how sensitive people could be about things like this, he just hoped that when he was ready, Carlos would talk about it with him.

"Do you think we'll get an A?" Asked Carlos, bouncing up and down in his chair energetically.

"With your photography skills," replied Logan, "how could we not?"

The Latino grinned and spun around on the office chair, Mr Petersen looking up from his laptop and only rolling his eyes at the boy's antics. Logan laughed, Carlos could be so childish, you'd never believe he had a driver's license, and that he'd saved a helpless boy from himself.

The gangly teacher chose that moment to stand up, announcing to the class at large that he'd now be collecting their assignments. The brunette was slightly disappointed that the assignment was finished, he'd had such fun with it, enjoyed spending the time with Carlos more than anything, although now he'd guessed he'd be spending a lot more time with the Latino. The thought sent shivers up his back, this whole relationship thing was so alien to Logan, it was like navigating completely uncharted territory.  
_  
_Carlos transferred the pictures onto a flash drive, handing it over to Mr Petersen as he came around; he smiled at the two boys, as if he knew what he'd find on that flash drive would be nothing short of brilliant.

"So, you ready for our lunch date?"

Logan's heart nearly gave out.

"W-what?" He spluttered, looking at the Latino in bewilderment.

Carlos furrowed his eyebrows, "lunch, Logie," he said, "we have lunch next."

A heat that rushed up the brunette's cheeks as Carlos tried to stifle a laugh at Logan's embarrassment accompanied the realisation.

"Oh right, lunch."

* * *

As usual the lunchroom was a crowded menagerie of sound and smell, Logan finding himself sat next to Carlos at the Latino's usual lunch table, the others watching the couple expectantly as Carlos demolished a plate of pasta. Logan just wanted to melt into the ground, he wasn't used to this much attention, in fact he'd never had so many people even look at him before. He couldn't bring himself to eat, knowing his luck he'd probably manage to smear the pizza that lay before him all over his slightly oversized jumper.

"So…" Lucy began, watching as Carlos hastily shoved pasta into his mouth with mild disbelief, "how has everyone's day been?"

Nobody answered the question, everyone too preoccupied with staring at either Carlos or Logan. It was as if they were all waiting for the Latino to take Logan in his arms, and ravish him right there in front of them all. Logan silently chuckled at the notion; he wouldn't put it past the three girls. James was no where in sight, which the brunette was slowly growing used to; he seemed to hardly see the taller boy anymore. Kendall was present at the table though, and he didn't seem the slightest bit interested in Carlos. He was watching Logan intently, green eyes scanning the brunette's pale features. Every so often Logan would squirm, feeling the weight of the blonde's gaze. He knew Kendall took pleasure in making him feel uncomfortable but the look that he was giving Logan, the one that the brunette was trying to avoid, seemed to hint at something more. He was looking at Logan like he too was expecting something, but it had nothing to do with Carlos.

Most of lunch carried on in that fashion; the three girls staring at Logan and Carlos with something that looked to be admiration mixed in with envy, Kendall giving the brunette expectant looks of his own, and the witty tall boy with hazel eyes not bothering to make an appearance.

That was, until Jett Stenson entered the cafeteria.

He was flanked by a band of his cronies, Neanderthals from the football and basketball teams. He scanned the lunchroom, a snarl escaping his throat when his eyes landed on Logan, huddled up next to Carlos. He stalked over to the table, a twisted grin pasted on his lips. Lucy was the first to spot them, her mouth turning down in a frown as she watched them approach with suspicion.

"Freaks and geeks," he greeted the table at large, the brutes behind him sniggering at his remark.

"What do you want Jett?" Camille asked coolly, crossing her arms.

"You know," the athlete began, ignoring Camille's question, "I never really understood you guys, I mean you have people like Kendall and Carlos, you two are alright, everyone likes you two, why do you two waste your time hanging around with a wannabe goth, a theatre nerd, a catholic virgin and a social retard?"

Jett's question was accompanied by a series of guttural sneers.

Lucy jumped to her feet, livid , "Jett, how much do you value your front teeth?" She asked, hands bawled into fists.

It took all of Logan's strength not to get up and run, he didn't want this, not now, he didn't think he could deal with it. The brunette could feel how tense Carlos had become at Jett's venomous words.

"Now, now," the athlete tutted, "don't be getting feisty, I just wanted to say that this little outcast here," he said, pointing to Logan, "is a waste of time, he's a true freak, he's diseased, and I hear that Carlos might be infected now? I wouldn't worry too much, I hear there's a treatment for short term cases."

It was Carlos' turn to jump to his feet, the stocky Latino was bristling with fury.

"Wanna say that again, arsehole?"

Jett held his hands up, feigning fear, his posse snickering behind him.

Logan could see the anger that gleamed in Camille's eyes, and the hatred that lurked behind Jo's. The brunette glanced fleetingly at Kendall, but the hockey player only sat there, seemingly unfazed by the entire situation, his face a composed mask.

Lucy crept around the table to join Carlos, her teeth bared.

"Get out of here Jett," she warned.

The brunette got to his feet, trying to ignore the butterflies that swirled inside his stomach.

"What's your problem Jett?" He asked, stepping up next to Carlos, taking the Latino's hand in his.

Jett stared down at their entwined hands, distaste evident in his expression.

"That's my problem," he said, nodding down to the couple's joined hands, "you flaunt what you are like it's something to be proud of, and then you go and infect other people with it, you make me sick, people like you deserve-"

Jett was cut off by Lucy's fist connecting with his jaw, a sickening crack reverberating throughout the lunchroom as everybody fell silent. Jett stumbled back, one of his posse breaking his fall. People began to mutter, staring at the bruise that began to blossom on the athlete's cheek. He glanced around, growling as he turned back to face the trio.

"You bitch," he sneered, advancing on Lucy. The Latino pushed Logan back, barrelling forward into Jett as he did so. Jett was hurled off his feet, landing with a thud against the cafeteria's tiled floor. The thugs he'd brought along with him stood around him in a semi-circle, looking baffled by the sudden turn of events. The Latino raised a fist, intending to cause some real damage, but Logan put a hand on his shoulder, his eyes pleading. Lucy, with a smirk, grabbed a carton of milk from a nearby table, tossing it over the dazed athlete. The milk arched up through the air, the contents of the carton splattering over Jett's face and hair. He screwed his eyes shut, mouth hanging open in shock as he pushed himself onto his feet.

That's when the laughs started.

It was only a muffled giggle at first, sounding from the far corner of the cafeteria but within moments everyone was staring at Jett and his friends, pointing and laughing, some doubled over and struggling for breath. Jett spun around wildly, roaring at the lunchroom at large.

"No, stop!" He screamed, pointing desperately at Logan and the others, "they're the freaks! You should be laughing at them!"

No one seemed to pay him any heed, the athlete looking too ridiculous to take seriously. He turned on Logan, Carlos and Lucy, staring at the brunette spitefully.

"I'll get you Mitchell, just you wait, I'll make you wish you'd never been born."

"You touch him and you're dead," hissed Carlos, shoving Jett back.

The athlete grunted, glaring at them as he stalked away, followed closely by his seemingly useless posse of half-wits.

The rest of the lunchtime was spent trying to calm down the Latino, who was still adamant about tracking Jett down and pummelling him to death.

But Logan couldn't completely focus on Carlos' ranting, his eyes continuing to meet those expectant green ones.

Kendall was waiting for something.

* * *

Logan couldn't focus, the numbers on the page before him seeming to hold no meaning. He was sat in math, Carlos sitting next to him constructing paper airplanes. The brunette knew the bell would sound in less than ten minutes, which he was thankful for, he wasn't feeling overly productive. The look that Kendall had been giving Logan in the cafeteria had been playing at the brunette's mind the entire afternoon, he didn't understand what Kendall wanted.

Mrs Martin rose from her desk and cleared her throat, attempting to get the attention of the entire class. Logan looked up, glad for the distraction.

"Now, I just wanted to remind you all how close finals are-"

Logan didn't hear anymore, his eyes widening, a thought sparking off in his head. That look, like Kendall had been expecting something...

Logan's mouth turned dry.

The study notes, Kendall wanted study notes for finals, he wanted them by Friday.

Tomorrow was Friday.

Logan suddenly felt nauseous, the room going out of focus. The brunette glanced over at Carlos, who was still immersed in his paper engineering. He'd completely forgotten about Kendall's blackmail in the midst of everything that had unfolded in the past couple of days, and now here was the deadline, looming up before him. Logan knew he should say something, but he didn't think he could, Carlos and Kendall were friends, and if the Latino found out what Kendall had been doing Logan knew he'd try to turn all his friends against the blonde hockey player. The brunette couldn't do that to a person, no matter how wicked they seemed; he knew better than anybody what it was like to be alone, he couldn't bear the thought of forcing that life onto somebody else. Kendall hadn't done anything to him yet, he'd only made threats, and ones that didn't really pose any risk anymore; Logan resolved to himself that Kendall wasn't dangerous, that he'd be okay.

Well, he could only hope.

* * *

"Carlos, I really don't want to go back there, please, don't make me go back there."

The Latino stared at Logan with a frown, the terrified look the brunette wore almost shattered his heart all over again.

"Logie, you need to go back sometime, what are you so scared of?"

"I think you can figure that one out," Logan replied, bringing his knees up to his chest. The Latino grimaced, remembering the countless times Logan had come to school sporting a variety of bruises.

"Is it your father?"

The brunette only nodded, watching as Carlos' grip tightened on the steering wheel. They were sat in the Latino's car in the school car park, Logan having refused to go back home.

"Okay, I'll take you there and you can pack some of your things, you can stay at mine until we figure something out."

Logan gave Carlos a hopeful stare, "really?"

Carlos smiled, "of course, I love you Logan."

The brunette crawled over to Carlos, kissing the Latino's caramel cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered. Carlos smiled again, starting the engine.

The couple arrived at Logan's after Carlos had taken several wrong turns, Logan soon realising that the Latino had never memorised the directions to his home. The brunette sighed a breath of relief as Carlos pulled into the driveway, seeing that his parents weren't home. The two climbed out of the Latino's car, Logan leading the way to the door, pulling the spare key out from underneath the doormat. The front door squealed as the brunette pushed it open, the hall shrouded in shadows. The two stepped in, Logan heading directly up the stairs with Carlos in close pursuit. The brunette glanced around nervously, expecting his father to jump out from the shadows at any moment. He stopped short outside his bedroom, turning back to give Carlos a small smile. The Latino stared around in mild amazement, the house, looking humble from the outside, was decorated lavishly; the Latino never realised just how wealthy Logan's parents must be.

The brunette ushered Carlos into his room, closing the door behind him.

"I won't be a minute," he said to the Latino, before turning away to pull a bag out of his closet.

Carlos was surprised as he looked around Logan's bedroom; it was nothing like he'd imagined. The walls were painted white and were completely bare, his bed sheets a mix of neutral shades of grey. The brunette's dresser and desk were mostly plain, with only the basic necessities covering their surface. There was not a touch of colour in the room, not a touch of individuality; it was like Logan was living in a hotel room.

"Carlos could you-" the brunette was cut off as the Latino engulfed his delicate frame in a hug, muscly arms encircling his waist as Carlos buried his head in Logan's shoulder.

"What's the matter?" He asked, hesitantly returning the hug.

"Nothing," answered Carlos, his voice muffled, "nothing."

Logan furrowed his brow, gaze sweeping about his featureless room. The brunette's shoulders sagged, a realisation hitting him.

His boyfriend pitied him.

Logan wasn't overly surprised, he knew that Carlos had to pity him a least a little, but this only acted as fuel. He didn't want the Latino feeling sorry for him, he didn't want to be a charity case.

Carlos pulled away from the hug, holding the brunette at arms length, mirroring his expression when he noticed Logan's frown.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing," answered Logan, with a small smile, "we better go, my parents will be home soon."

* * *

**I'm actually banking on some hate mail, you guys need to scare me into writing better!  
****Also, for any of you who are reading my other story, Fragments, I will be updating soonish, I haven't forgotten about it! **


	14. Chapter 14

**For any of you who are pained about Kendall being a villain, I'd just like to say that I'm sorry. He is my favorite of the four and I didn't even mean for him to be one of the antagonists, it just sort of happened... But never fear, he's not totally evil, and eventually maybe he won't be so horrible... maybe...  
Also, I don't say it enough, but thank you all for the lovely reviews, they make my day every time I read them!  
I hope you all enjoy the chapter :) **

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

"I don't understand this!"

"What's not to understand?" Reasoned Logan; "it's basic trigonometry."

"This is basic?" Asked the Latino, raising his dark eyebrows. Logan let out a chuckle, falling back onto Carlos' bed. It was nearing seven o'clock and Logan was trying his best to coax the Latino into studying.

"Come on Carlos, we need to get this done," insisted the brunette, "how else do you expect to pass maths?"

"But I don't want to pass maths," moaned Carlos, climbing up from his desk to join Logan on the bed, "I just want to spend time with you."

The brunette ducked his head, trying his best to conceal the traitorous blush that invaded his cheeks.

"Really?" He asked, staring into the Latino's eyes.

Carlos grinned, pushing Logan down into the bed, so the two were lying next to each other.

"Of course; there's no one else I'd rather be spending time with, I mean what I said that night, Logan," he said, referring back to the scene in the cabin, "I love you."

Logan smiled thinly, resting his head on the Latino's chest, listening to the thud of his heart.

"I love you too Carlos," he whispered. The two became lost in eyes of differing shades of brown, chocolate and burnt umber. Mesmerised, Logan leant in, feeling the tingling sensation of Carlos' breaths against his lips. The distance was swiftly closed, the Latino pressing their lips together. The kiss was deep and slow, tenderness laced with a lingering desire. Carlos wrapped his arms around the petite brunette, hands rubbing up and down the length of his slender back. Logan moaned at the touch, pressing himself into the Latino, the brunette grabbing fistfuls of Carlos' shirt.

"Carlos- oh, um…"

The couple lurched apart, the Latino's eyes wide with shock, Logan biting his bottom lip, embarrassment heating up his features.

Sylvia stood in the open doorway, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"I didn't realise; the door was open…" She said, giving the two a small smile.

"No, no, it's okay…" Muttered Carlos, eyes downcast.

A silence, awkward and tense fell over the three for a moment, nobody making any move to speak.

"I think we need to talk about this," said Sylvia finally, "come join me down in the kitchen in a few minutes."

The Latino nodded, watching as his mother disappeared from the room. The two stared at the empty doorway in silence, too shocked to neither speak nor move.

"I'm really sorry about that…" Mumbled Logan, averting his gaze from Carlos' eyes.

"Don't be sorry, there's nothing to be sorry for," said the Latino with a smile as he rubbed the brunette's shoulder in comfort, "I'm not sorry."

Carlos stood up, stretching.

"But I guess now we have to go downstairs and face a very awkward conversation."

Logan nodded ruefully, allowing the Latino to lead the way out of the bedroom, the now rumpled bed sheets the last thing the brunette glimpsed before leaving the room.

* * *

The kitchen was quiet and dim as the couple entered it, Mrs Garcia stood at the bench brewing a pot of what Logan assumed was tea. She took a seat at the small breakfast table, the two boys following suit.

"Now," started Sylvia, pouring the tea into three separate ceramic mugs, "I need to know what's going on, would someone mind explaining?"

The Latino grasped Logan's hand in his own beneath the table, giving it a squeeze. Logan smiled, nodding for Carlos to begin speaking.

"Well, ah, I guess we're t-together…" He mumbled; eyes focused on the table, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

For a moment Mrs Garcia didn't answer, and Carlos grew fearful, this is exactly what he'd been dreading; a bad reaction. But when Sylvia did finally speak her tone was curious and as the Latino looked up he saw the smile dominating her features.

"I just have one question," was all she said.

"Yes?" Asked Carlos, squeezing Logan's hand again.

"Are you two going to adopt a little girl," she questioned, "because I've always wanted granddaughter."

Logan watched as the Latino's jaw dropped, blood rushing to fill his cheeks.

"M-m-mum!"

Sylvia held he hands up in defence.

"What? I was just wondering, it's a perfectly legitimate question."

Carlos only shook his head, trying furiously to quell the blush that heated his cheeks.

"What about your parents Logan? Have you had a chance to mention Carlos to them?" Sylvia inquired, ignoring the mortified state of her son. The brunette went to answer but found that words wouldn't come; he didn't know what to say. Carlos, noticing Logan's panicked look, answered.

"Well about that… Logan's been having some trouble at home and I was wondering if he could stay here for a while?"

Carlos sounded hopeful as he spoke, watching as his mother tilted her head to the side, thinking.

"Well I don't see the harm in letting him stay…" She answered with a smile. Logan grinned at her, the Latino jumping up from his seat, pumping his fists in the air.

"But," said Sylvia, the word causing Carlos to pause in his celebration, "if I'm kept up at night by you two I may have to reconsider."

Logan stared between Sylvia and her son, shocked at her blunt statement. Carlos was frozen, spluttering out an incoherent sentence.

"M-m-bu-b-wh-what...?"

Mrs Garcia only laughed, standing up and leaving the room, pausing at the doorway and saying:

"make sure you put the mugs on the draining board when you're finished."

* * *

"Well that was the single most awkward thing I've ever experienced in my life ever."

The two were sat back in Carlos' room, lying on the bed staring up at the plain ceiling; the only part of the Latino's room that was relatively clean and orderly.

"I think I like your mother," was all Logan said, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Carlos pulled Logan into his arms, chuckling.

"Of course you like her."

The couple spent a few minutes in a comfortable silence, Logan quickly lulled into a relaxed state by the steady rises and falls of Carlos' broad chest.

"Carlos?" The brunette said after a few minutes, the ceiling still holding the two in its simplistic thrall.

"Mmm?" Replied Carlos, Logan feeling the resonating vibrations as he spoke.

"Thank you for letting me stay, I was scared I wouldn't have anywhere to go."

"Logan, as long as I'm by your side you'll have a place to go, which will be always."

"Always?"

Carlos, shifted into a sitting position, furrowing his brow.

"Of course, Logie, why do you sound so doubtful?"

The brunette sighed, drawing his knees up to his chin.

"Why me Carlos?" He asked, staring down at his feet, "why did you choose me, the kid with all the baggage, when you could have had anybody?"

The Latino's eyes went wide, disbelief lacing his features.

"Logan, why not you?" He replied, clambering over to the boy's delicate frame.

"I would rather have you than anyone else in the whole entire world, don't you ever forget that, not in a million million years."

The brunette only nodded, Carlos could tell he didn't believe it.

"Come on," said the Latino, jumping up from the bed, "I've got something to show you."

Logan followed obediently, allowing Carlos to lead him out of the room and into the hall; before he knew it, the two were in the upstairs bathroom, staring into the wide mirror that hung above the vanity.

"What do you see?" Asked the Latino, hands resting on Logan's shoulders.

The brunette, glancing up at Carlos' dark eyes could tell he was completely serious; this wasn't any kind of joke.

"I see Logan Mitchell and Carlos Garcia," answered Logan hesitantly, unsure of where this was going.

"Okay," said Carlos, staring straight ahead at their reflections, "describe Logan Mitchell to me."

"Umm…" Logan suddenly became uncomfortable, he didn't want to be in here, stood before the mirror, a tool his father had unknowingly utilised for years to remind the brunette of just how pathetic and worthless he was.

"Come on," prompted Carlos, awaiting a response.

"Carlos, can we go back to the bedroom, I'm not comfortable with this."

The Latino shook his head defiantly, urging Logan to describe himself. The brunette finally gave in with a sigh, beginning to speak.

"Logan Mitchell has brown hair," he began, "and brown eyes, his skin is really pale and he's quite thin. There, is that enough?"

Carlos shook his head, jaw set firm.

Logan had turned to look up at the Latino as he spoke, and now, as he turned back to stare into the mirror it was like a blow to the stomach, if Carlos hadn't been holding him he was sure he would have fell. Without even realising it, the brunette once again spoke, words surging forth.

"I see a pathetic excuse for a person," he whispered, eyes wide, "I see someone who's weak, who isn't worth anybody's time, I see someone who doesn't deserve to live."

His breath hitched and Carlos let go of his shoulders, catching Logan by the waist as he crumpled to the cold tiles beneath their feet. Silent tears traced their way down the brunette's cheek, his frame shaking violently.

"It's okay, it's okay," cooed Carlos, "what you saw in the mirror, I want you to know, you're wrong, what you're seeing, it isn't right, you're absolutely perfect, I live for you Logan."

* * *

He stared, wide-eyed, at the ceiling. The room was dark, the shadows creeping in with every passing second he gazed up. A duvet was pulled up to his chin, and the curtains were closed tightly over the window, just the way he liked it, but still Logan couldn't sleep. His mind, being the analytical construct that it was, kept wondering over the events of the past week or so. He knew it was an unproductive thing to do, the only thing that would come of it would be less sleep, but the brunette couldn't help himself; he was amazed at how things had unfolded. Here he was, sleeping in the guest bedroom of the Garcia residence, staring up at their simple celling, white paint muted to a grey in the darkness. Carlos, Kendall, Jett, his newfound friends, his parents. It was like the brunette was living one of his novels, but he didn't think there'd be anyone twisted enough to write such a terrible narrative. For such a long time his future had been guaranteed as nothing much more than bleak, but now, despite all that had happened, there was a pinprick of light at the end of the labyrinth.

What Logan had experienced in the bathroom, Carlos forcing him to speak those words aloud, something he'd never dared to do before had somehow helped him. The Latino had knocked them back so easily, was so confident that the brunette, for once, was completely wrong.

It was a nice feeling.

For the first time in his life Logan Mitchell was properly loved, something he'd feared he'd never experience as long as he lived.

He was glad he'd been wrong about that too.

Logan, as quietly as he could, climbed from his bed, creeping out into the hall, trying desperately not to make a sound.

He stood before Carlos' bedroom door for a few moments, fighting an internal battle. Maybe he should just go back to bed, he'd hate to disturb Carlos, they'd been late getting to bed in the first place. The brunette was about to turn around, resolving to himself to go back to bed, but froze, a hushed voice drifting out from behind the closed door.

"Logie?"

It opened to a few moments later to reveal the silhouette of Carlos, whose eyes were wide.

"Logie, what are you doing up?"

The brunette blinked, startled by the Latino's apparent sixth sense.

"I-I couldn't sleep." Muttered Logan, staring down at his bare feet; even in the darkness Logan could sense Carlos' smile.

"Come to bed with me," he murmured sleepily, taking Logan's hand in his.

* * *

The Latino lay under the thick duvet, Logan's back pressed firmly against his bare chest. He listened to the brunette's contented sighs and utterances, which brought a smile to his lips. Carlos couldn't be happier, laying here, he realised he was more or less contented with his life; Logan filling a void that he had never thought could be mended. The brunette was perfect in every describable way, Carlos only wished Logan could see that. The Latino pressed his lips against the milky skin of the brunette's neck, muttering,

"I love you Logan."

Logan shifted, nestling further into the warmth that Carlos provided.

"I love you too Carlos."

* * *

_Science Lab, now._

Logan stared down at the screen of his phone, gulping. He'd never bothered to save the number, be he hadn't needed to, the brunette knew exactly who the text was from. He closed his eyes, leaning back against the cool metal of his locker, trying frantically to calm his pounding heart.

Everything would be fine; he would be fine.

"Logie, there you are!"

The brunette lurched into a standing position, shoving his phone back into his pocket. Carlos didn't seem to notice the jerking movements, grinning as he practically ran over to the brunette.

"I was looking all over for you," he continued, "I was talking to Stephanie and you just disappeared!"

Logan gave the Latino a rueful smile, "sorry, I just needed to grab some books." Carlos grinned, "it's okay Logie, I was just a little worried, I thought that maybe you'd been kidnapped by a ninja or something."

Logan tried his best to make the chuckle he gave Carlos sound authentic; his heart was beating wildly; he knew exactly what Kendall wanted.

The brunette had been so busy last night with being besotted with Carlos that he'd more or less forgotten about the threat that hung over his head, almost as if it had never even existed in the first place. But here it was, bigger than ever before and looming right before him. Reality just loved to play its twisted games.

"Carlos," Logan said, a little shakily, "I've got to go and grab one of the chemistry textbooks from the science lab for study, I'll be back in a minute."

"Well I'll come with you," said the Latino amiably, making to follow the brunette as he started off down the hall. Logan jolted to a stop and spun around to face Carlos.

"No!" He said, so forcefully it came out as more of a shout.

The Latino looked taken aback, chocolate eyes wide with shock.

"Logie…"

"I-I'm sorry," he said, taking Carlos' hands in his, "I just thought that you should go find your friends, hang out for a while before class, I won't be long."

The Latino's frown turned into a smile as he nodded his head in understanding.

"Okay, I guess you're right, I'll see you in a couple of minutes then?"

"Of course," answered Logan, who pressed a chaste kiss to the Latino's cheek. Carlos grinned, returning the sentiment. As Logan pulled away and continued on down the hall he tried his best to look composed and calm, but his mind was a chaotic mess of terror and apprehension. He didn't have the study notes, what was Kendall going to do to him?

* * *

"You took your time."

He stood, golden blonde hair shining in the glare of the fluorescent lights. Kendall stood on the opposite side of the room, numerous benches adorned with collections of glass vials the only things that divided the pair.

"Where are the notes?" He asked, emerald eyes expectant.

"I-I…"

Logan could hardly breathe. What was he to say? Kendall on his own was imposing enough, the brunette hated to think of what he'd be like when he was riled up.

"You didn't bring them."

It wasn't a question.

Logan gulped, legs quaking as Kendall advanced, taking slow and purposeful steps towards the paralysed brunette. Logan wanted nothing more to run, but his legs wouldn't comply, rooted to the floor by the ever-traitorous feeling of terror. All he could do was stare as Kendall continued to close the gap between them.  
"Why didn't you bring them Loges?" He enquired, in that scarily casual tone of his. Logan could sense that he was angry, a broiling rage contained just beneath the surface.

"I-I…"

Nothing would come out; no coherent thoughts or words could be strung together. Fear had taken over and shut down the brunette's brain. It was as if his body knew the small boy didn't stand a chance.

"You know Loges," Kendall said, clapping his hands together as he came to a stop a few feet from the brunette, "frankly, I'm surprised. I thought you were a conscientious worker, that you took pride in your work, and that you kept true to your promises. But here we are; you failed to deliver my simple request. You failed Logan."

"I-I…"  
"No, no," said Kendall with a smile, "don't say anything. I know my threats don't really hold any weight anymore, but you still didn't do what I asked, and I can't let that go unpunished."

It was like Logan was back in his home, standing before his father, waiting to receive that almost customary blow to the face. He thought he'd escaped, but not really, he could never really get away.

It was so sudden; Logan never really saw it coming, only felt it. The brunette wasn't even exactly sure what had happened, had Kendall punched him? Had he thrown something? All he felt was a screaming pain that blossomed on his forehead, the tiles of the science lab cold as he collapsed upon them. He wasn't sure how quickly he blacked out, but the last thing the brunette remembered was the sound of Kendall's laugh and the soft curtain of red that swept over his eyes.

* * *

James sat in the library, trying his best to focus on the literature essay that sat before him. He knew his efforts were in vain, and that really he was wasting his time here, but he couldn't help it. All he was really trying to do was stay away from Carlos, and in turn, avoid Logan. He couldn't stand to see the couple together, all smiles and happiness; it hurt him too much. Once or twice James had been tempted to approach Logan but the Latino never seemed to leave his side.

"Why do I fail at life so badly?" He muttered to himself angrily, tapping the pen he held in his hand furiously against the table.

"Oh please, you have prefect grades and the most flawless skin I've ever seen, I don't understand how you could possibly fail at life."

Glancing up, James saw Lucy leaning against one of the shelves, smiling.

"Hey," she said, taking a seat opposite him.

"Hey," he sighed, rubbing at his heavy eyes.

"What are you doing hiding in here anyway?" She asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Would you believe me if I said I was studying?" He asked.

Lucy grinned, shaking her head, "no, in all my life the James Diamond I've known has never needed to study, not for anything."

"So what's really up," she questioned, folding her arms across her chest.

"It's nothing," James muttered, glancing down at the essay, "I'm just, I don't know…"

The brunette was so tempted to just admit everything to Lucy, he was so tired of keeping it all to himself, he wanted someone to talk to.

"Jamie," she said with a simper, "you can talk to me, I can see you've got a problem, let me help you."

James leaned back in his chair, allowing the weariness that had been slowly eating away at him to wash over his entire being.

"It's Logan," he said finally, after a few minutes of silence, "it's Logan."

"Logan?" Lucy asked, sounding taken aback.

"Well, Logan, but not Logan…"

"James, you need to give me a little more here," Lucy said with a laugh, "I'm sort of lost."

"It's just that I-I…" James began to feel his heart rate pick up, what was he supposed to say? He didn't think the small girl would react badly but he was still hesitant to reveal the truth to her.

_Screw it._

"IreallylikeLogan."

"What?" Asked Lucy, squinting, "I didn't hear you, slow down!"

"I…"

"You what?" She demanded, giving the brunette an impatient look.

"I really like Logan…" He answered finally, letting out a dejected sigh.

"Are you serious?" Lucy said incredulously, "Like, really?"

James only nodded, sighing again.

"Of course you're gay," she said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes, "everyone is gay!"

"What's that supposed to mean? " Demanded James, tensing.

"Nothing," Lucy said with a smirk, "it's just that all the hot ones are gay, but really, with the amount of skin care products you use, and not to mention the mirror you carry around, it really isn't all that surprising."

"Oh," said James, having no witty reply for what may be the first time.

"Sorry are you playing the recluse because it's too painful to see Logan and Carlos together?" She asked after a few moments.

James nodded, "you could put it like that I guess, although it sounds a bit dramatic."

"Not nearly dramatic enough for you James."

James only rolled his eyes, "I've just, I've just always thought that I would be good for him, and then when those two started dating, I don't know… Logan needs nurturing but with Carlos, it's like he's a full time babysitter for an over grown child. I want to be able to look after him."

Lucy gave him a sympathetic look, "Logan is happy, " she said, "you should be happy too."

"I know," murmured James, "but I don't think I can be happy without him."

* * *

Logan opened his eyes, groaning, met with the sight of a swirl of blurred and muted colours.

"Logie…"

The voice was choked, tortured almost; he felt his hand being squeezed softly. The brunette turned his head; eyes coming into sharp clarity as he was met with the sight of Carlos' tear streaked face.

"Hey," whispered Logan, closing his eyes momentarily as he smiled. He heard a collective sigh wash through the room, looking around he saw that everyone was there, Mrs Garcia, Jo, Lucy, Camille, James and; Logan paused as his eyes connected with Kendall's; emerald orbs brimming with a fabricated concern.

"We were all so worried," breathed the Latino, bundling Logan up into his arms and carefully pressing a kiss to his cheek, "I was so worried."

Logan could hear the thump of Carlos' heart, erratic and wild as he held him; Logan, despite being safe, felt far from it; his assailant stood right in this room with him, and nobody appeared to be any wiser.

"How long was I unconscious for?" Logan asked, feeling the rawness of his throat as he spoke.

"A day," croaked the Latino, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Logan said, "you have nothing to be sorry for."

The two settled into silence, the tension that hung around the room settling. The brunette knew everyone was thinking the same thing, well expect for Kendall of course. They all wanted to know what happened to him; but he wasn't prepared to talk about it.

"I'm so tired," muttered Logan, "I think I need to get some sleep."

Carlos squeezed his hand again, smiling softly, "okay, we'll leave you alone for a while, I'll go and tell the doctor you woke up."

Everyone followed the Latino from the room, muttering condolences to the brunette, James still looking somewhat distressed. Kendall hung back, smirking.

"If you say a word," he said, "about what happened I'll make sure you'll never speak again. Not that any of them will believe you, but still, I can't have people doubting my good nature."

He left the room chuckling, the sounding lingering long after he had disappeared. The doctor soon entered the room, checking Logan's vitals, advising him to get some rest. The brunette tried, but it was futile, what was he to say to everyone? If he said a word about Kendall then there would be a confrontation, and Logan felt that the blonde would have no trouble staying true to his promise.

Logan let a stray tear fall from his eye, feeling it's salty heat run down his cheek.

He was trapped.

* * *

**Thank you all for reading!  
****Just as a note, my updates will be a little irregular for the next couple of weeks or so, I just have a bunch of assignments and stuff I need to get through, but I hope to be updating relatively soon. **


	15. Update and Apology

Unfortunately this isn't a new chapter, I just wanted to tell you all that I'm awfully sorry for basically neglecting this story for so long, these past months have been extremely busy for me so I hope you can all understand. I promise you all that I'll have a new chapter up by next Monday cross my heart and hope to die.  
That's all for now, lots of love and pleads for forgiveness on account of my unreliability.


	16. Chapter 15

**Sorry sorry sorry sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry ****sorry.  
****And sorry for the short chapter too...**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

Camille knew that something was off.

If was just a little detail, something so minor that maybe anyone else would have brushed it off, but not her. Before leaving the hospital, she'd managed to question Logan about what had happened, and he had just simply said he didn't remember, only that he'd gone to get some books from the chemistry lab in the morning and after that it was all blank. Now, that had been enough to quell the girl, but as she left the small room, Camille had caught sight of the watch on Logan's wrist, and the time that it read, the hands stuck.

Twelve-forty.

She knew that she was most probably overreacting; after all what would Logan have to gain from lying? But she couldn't help but shake the feeling that Logan was hiding something, and that the broken watch was an insight to the whole truth. It stood to reason that the watch had broken with the force of the blow Logan had received, which, if Camille's assumption was correct, would have been at around eight-thirty; a good four hours before lunch time. She pushed her books away from her, laying her head down upon the smooth surface of her desk. She knew it would be futile to try and study now; her mind was far too occupied. Why would Logan try to protect the person who had done this to him? That would be the only reason the brunette would lie about when he was assaulted; Camille knew she needed to figure out who'd done this to her friend, seeing as he wasn't going to come forward with the truth himself. She resigned this to herself as she stood up, yawning loudly as she stretched her arms; she'd sleep on it.

* * *

"Okay Mr Mitchell, I'm going to let you be on your way now, just remember what I said, take it easy and no strenuous exercise for the next couple of weeks. Now, do you have someone to take you home?"

Logan nodded in compliance with everything the doctor said, he just hoped that someone was waiting out in the hall; he couldn't bear to spend another minute of his time within these suffocating and sickly clean walls. As he walked out into the hall the brunette reflected upon how everything had panned out. Kendall had hurt him, hurt him enough to put him in hospital and now here Logan was, almost a day later, like nothing had even happened. The submissive, reserved part of the slim boy reasoned that everything had played out in the most ideal fashion possible, but another part, a smaller and almost polar part argued that the blonde couldn't get away with what he'd done. Upon the brunette's earlier insistence the hospital had recorded that his injuries had been the result of an accident so there were no police involved; but now that small part urged him to speak out to someone, to anyone.

"Logie?"

Logan flinched, jolted out of his deep reverie by the soft voice from behind him. Slowly he turned, luminous chocolate eyes meeting his own.

"Hey Carlos."

The Latino broke out in a grin, rushing up to meet the brunette in a bone-crushing hug. Logan grimaced at the pain that flared in his side, carefully draping his arms around Carlos' neck with a weak smile.

"Hey," he repeated.

"Hey," was all the Latino replied with, nudging his head into the crook of Logan's neck. The two stood in the hall, wrapped within one another for what seemed like an age to Logan but eventually the two carefully disentangled themselves, Logan careful to conceal the throbbing pain that had erupted in his abdomen.

"Come on," murmured the Latino was a smile, "lets get you home."

It wasn't until the pair reached the Latino's car in the flat, charted expanse of the hospital's car park that Carlos spoke again.

"So what exactly happened?"

Logan tried his best to shrug the question off as he climbed into the passenger seat, taking his time to strap himself in, avoiding speaking at all costs.

"Logie?"

"Oh, right…" The brunette gave Carlos a subdued smile, refusing to meet the Latino's eyes as he spoke haltingly.

"Like I told the doctors, just an accident, I went in to collect my books and I must have slipped or something, I don't really remember…"

As soon as the words left his mouth the brunette wished he could take them back; why was he protecting Kendall like this?

_Tell the truth._

The little part of him urged the brunette fiercely as he watched the Latino, whose eyes were filled with a look of betrayed doubt.

"Well if you say so…" Carlos replied finally, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in an agitated manner as he turned the ignition.

The car ride was tense, the couple having fallen into a twitchy silence, the Latino shooting Logan apprehensive looks every couple of seconds, which the brunette tried his best to ignore.

_Tell him._

The slight brunette shook his head, the turmoil erupting within. He knew he should tell Carlos the truth, tell everyone the truth, but Kendall was a friend of all of them and he couldn't bear to tear a friendship apart, not after what so many people had put him through. He knew that if didn't whisper a word to anyone then maybe Kendall would finally leave him be; after all Logan had failed to do what he'd asked so what more could the blonde possibly want?

"Logan?"

Logan, jolted from his thoughts, turned to Carlos, "yes?"

"You know you can trust me Logie, all I want to do is protect you, I love you Logie."

Those words, strung together in such a simple sentence did something to Logan, woke him from some kind of dream draped in the blinding curtain of shock. To put it simply those words broke him. The brunette managed to hold himself together for all of five seconds, managing to give the Latino a weak smile before allowing the façade to melt.

"I'm scared Carlos," the words were accompanied with the hitch of Logan's breath as he tried his best to hide the tears from the Latino. The brunette felt the car slow to a stop but kept his face buried in his hands as sobs took hold of his petite frame.

"Logie, it's okay, I'm here, you don't need to be scared, I'm here."

Somehow Carlos managed to lift Logan from his seat and transfer him into the Latino's lap, settling the brunette's head against his chest. Logan; quelled by the comforting sound of the Latino's heart beating, sniffled, burying his head into the thin fabric of Carlos' shirt.

"I just want everything to be normal," he said, barely above a whisper, "I'm sick of all of this, I just want to be with you Carlos, I want everything else to be over."

Carlos pressed a kiss to Logan's hair, wrapping his arms tightly around the slight boy, "don't worry Logie, everything will be okay, I promise you."

* * *

Camille stood before the group she'd assembled. They all sat around the curly haired brunette's longue room, an array of confused and questioning looks directed her way.

"Sorry about the late notice but the reason I've called you all here is one of great urgency."

As she spoke Camille looked around at the company, expecting looks of shock or maybe even a few gasps, but instead the only reaction she received was James' sarcastic drawl.

"You know, you could have just texted us…"

The curly haired brunette shoot the boy a glare before continuing.

"It's just about Logan, I know he told everyone that what happened was an accident but I just don't believe it. He told me that the morning of the accident he'd gone to the chemistry lab and slipped over but I caught a glance at his watch and it had jammed on twelve-forty, assuming it had broken when he'd lost consciousness… It just doesn't add up."

For a moment nobody spoke, everyone just simply stared up at Camille. Carlos, from his place on the couch, leant forward and began speaking quietly.

"Logan was telling the truth, he told me that morning he'd needed to go to the labs to grab a study book but he seemed really on edge and I think he'd gotten a text from some one as well…"

Camille nodded in understanding, beginning to pace back and forth as she thought aloud.

"I just don't believe that it was an accident, I mean after what happened in the cafeteria with Jett I can't believe it. I think somebody hurt Logan and for whatever reason he's protecting them."

Jo, from her place next to Kendall and Lucy on the floor, spoke up.

"Well what if that text was something like a threat maybe, forcing him to go to the science labs, I mean they are always empty during that time of the day…"

Before Camille could say anything Kendall jumped into the conversation, a look of scepticism fixed upon his features.

"But that doesn't make sense, as you said the watch was stuck on twelve-forty so that means if someone had hurt him it must have been then, not in the morning."

"Unless…" Said Lucy and James, in almost perfect synch, "the person who did it adjusted the time on Logan's watch to make it look like it happened at a different time, assuming it was a time at which they'd have an alibi."

James and Lucy grinned at one another, silently praising one another's genius.

"But Jett isn't smart enough to pull something like that is he?" Questioned Camille, arching an eyebrow in doubt. Everyone looked around at one another, unsure of what to say.

"Well why would it have to be Jett?" Said Carlos quietly, "Why not someone else?"

* * *

Kendall sat, ignoring Jo the best he could as around him his friends tried to deduce what really happened to Logan. He barely cared, hardly listening to what was being said; they would never suspect him anyway.

After Camille convinced everyone that it hadn't been an accident the blonde had thrown in his own opinion, which was false of course, to try and throw them off but as James and Lucy came to the conclusion that someone had adjusted the time on Logan's watch, he began to get tense.

How had they so easily figured it out? Kendall thought he'd hit a stroke of genius when he'd decided to do that, setting it to a time when he had hockey practice but now that had been blown out of the water; he just had to hope that Logan wouldn't say anything.

As Camille continued to ramble on he found his eyes straying over to James, who was sitting on the couch looking positively bored. The blonde knew he wasn't though, it was just an act, he didn't want anyone to see how much he really cared about Logan; although to Kendall it was an easy thing to spot. He sighed internally; he just wished that things would go his way for once; Logan didn't realise how lucky he was, having people like James care about him as much as they did, it just made him all the more easier to hate.

He just wanted to be happy like everyone else, was that too much to ask?

* * *

Logan stared up at the ceiling, tracing the dents and cracks in the plaster slowly with his eyes. Logan had told Carlos he was tired after they'd arrived at the Latino's home from the hospital, going straight to bed only after being fussed over by Mrs Garcia for the better part of an hour. After she had come to her own conclusion concerning the brunette's wellbeing she had allowed him to go up and get some rest. He'd tried falling asleep but Logan found he couldn't, he had too much playing at his mind and he'd heard Carlos go out not long before, so he knew he had time to kill before the Latino arrived back from whatever errand he was on. The mattress beneath him felt lumpy and rough and the dark could do nothing to quell his pondering thoughts, he just didn't know what to do about Kendall. At the moment everything else seemed insignificant; the letter from his supposedly 'secret' admirer, the problem with Jett and his parents that seemed to be relieved he was out of their lives, all of it was pushed to the back of his mind. The brunette wanted nothing more than to bury himself beneath the sheets of his bed and never come back out, wrapped up safely in a cocoon of warmth where nothing could bother him.

"I just want to sleep and never wake up." Logan muttered the words to himself in a whisper that hung heavily in the darkness around him, almost seeming to taunt him.

The brunette sighed, sitting up and drawing his knees up to his chest, resting his chin upon them. A part of him still wanted to tell someone about Kendall but who? He didn't want to go around destroying friendships but he didn't trust himself to continue carrying the burden of the blonde's betrayal by himself; Logan was too scared of what it might drive him to. Carlos had saved him, but that didn't mean the brunette was out of the dark yet; he knew he still had a long way to go. The buzz of the brunette's phone shattered the quiet of the room, the screen illuminating the space in a dull artificial glare. Glancing down at the screen he saw he had a message from Carlos.

_hey Logie I'm on my way back got James with me hes gonna spend the afternoon with us. See you soon and miss you heaps! Xoxo  
_  
Logan stared down at the screen with a small smile, looking forward to spending what he thought might be a well-earned carefree afternoon. It would be a nice distraction from the thoughts that plagued his mind and refused to let him be.

* * *

**Don't hate me forever please, new and longer chapter really soon, things are slowing down a lot so I'll have much more time to update now, thank you all so much for your patience. **


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